Jake Crawford

My name is Jake Crawford and I’m creative at heart. I spend my days expressing myself in all sorts of projects like sketching out concepts, writing and recording music, or skateboarding throughout Long Beach, California.  


I grew up cruising in cul-de-sacs and in a punk band with my brother and our friends in the Midwest. What began as an interest in designing T-shirt graphics for our band eventually led to modding and building guitars for us to play. Those activities piqued my interest in design. Ultimately, I enrolled at the University of Kansas’ School of Design and earned a BFA in Industrial Design and Visual Communications with a minor in Art History.


After getting my degree, I moved to Chicago where I worked at a design and fabrication shop during the day, while moonlighting as a sound engineer at clubs around town at night. I was lucky enough to work with artists like The Wu-Tang Clan, Bad Brains, and Paramore, to name a few faves. While I loved being in Chicago, I was elated when I was offered the opportunity to move to California for an apprenticeship at Vans.


Starting as a design apprentice and rising through the ranks to become a Footwear Designer on the Skate team, I’ve designed dozens of sneakers from sketches to final products. The sneakers have ranged from performance skate footwear to lifestyle kids novelty. Most recently my work has been focused on creating more trend-driven styles for casual shoes, playing into the Y2K and sport inspired trends that are dominating the market. I often work closely with athletes directly on their signature models, while I research draw inspiration from travel, art, fashion and street culture to ensure my designs meet the functional and stylistic needs too excite the people, punks, kids, skateboarders, and normies alike.


Footwear Skills: Sketching, Technical Drawing, Tech Packs, Working directly with Development, Making timely changes on my footwear for fit, style and function. I have compiled photos taken on market travel to create mood boards and trend direction to guide my art and create color pack for specific consumers.


I have also designed unique accessories, custom packaging, and new textiles from working with LTD and SMU collaborators such as: Quasi, Hockey, Fucking Awesome, Alltimers, etc.