Expertise

Topics:  Performance Products for Athletes, Sportswear Design, Product Design, Design Strategy, Humanistic Design, Fashion Design

Industries: Footwear, Design

For nearly three decades Charles Johnson has worked at the intersection of human performance, design, technology and manufacturing creating both analog and digital products for the sports, fashion, active lifestyle and gaming sectors and leading innovation on a global scale.

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design and recipient of the IDSA Merit Award, Charles began his career as a product designer and evolved into executive leadership roles, shaping strategies and teams for renowned brands. At Adidas’ global headquarters in Germany, he helped reestablish the company’s industry leadership by translating biomechanics research into cutting-edge performance technologies for athletes. He later founded Sports Creative Group, a New York-based design consultancy, where his accomplishments included the Black Fives™ apparel brand and designs for Ralph Lauren RLX and Prince Tennis.

Charles has held leadership roles at Adidas North America, Crocs and Puma SE, where he served as Global Director of Innovation. At Puma, he led multidisciplinary teams to create performance-enhancing technologies and forged partnerships with industry leaders like Hewlett-Packard, BMW, MIT Design Lab and ESL Gaming. His work integrates design and innovation with a focus on sustainability, mobility and social impact.

In addition to his professional work, Charles is a sustaining jurist for international design awards such as IDEA, iF and Core77. Through his consulting business, DrivenByCharles, he advises organizations and startups across sports, healthcare, sustainability and social impact sectors. He has given keynote speeches on the subjects of humanistic design delivering “Advanced Technology and Humanistic Design” at the Artificial Intelligence and Design Lab International Symposium in Hong Kong, “Design For Humanistic Values” at the 2020 International Design Conference (IDC) and wearable technology at Wear It Innovation Summit Berlin. He is featured on the Agents of Innovation and Freie Wildbahn “Bizplay Meets Creatables” podcasts.

At the ETC, Charles leverages his extensive experience to champion humanistic design and shaping experiences that bridge the digital and the physical worlds including human robot interface and mobility.

Charles Johnson joined the ETC in 2023.

Media Experience

From Supercars to Sustainable Shoes: An Interview with Charles Johnson on Designing the ‘The Rowe’  — D5 Design Magazine
When footwear designer Charles Johnson sat down to create The Rowe, he did not just set out to make another comfortable clog. Instead, he looked at the sharp lines of a high-performance Japanese electric supercar and decided to bring an element of sharp posture and high style back to everyday footwear. That bold approach has paid off, earning the project the top spot as the Winner of the 2026 AIDA Award for Fashion Design of the Year, alongside wins in the Footwear and Sustainable Fashion categories. Manufactured by World Shoe Limited in a pioneering factory in Akosombo, Ghana, the project has already created 200 local jobs while funding vital regional health interventions through its sales profits. In this interview, we talk about the unexpected automotive inspiration behind the shoe, how the brand built a manufacturing facility in Ghana in just twelve months, and what it means for the international design community when Africa sits on the judging panel.

Future of Shoes | Charles Johnson | S8 E5  — Future of XYZ Podcast
This week’s guest is Charles Johnson who has spent nearly four decades in the footwear business- developing products for Puma, Converse, adidas, and others. He is now an academic at Carnegie Mellon University and social entrepreneur working to deliver change at scale.

A Conversation with Charles Johnson, FIT Sport Design Awards Juror  — FIT Sport Design Awards
In this interview, we delve into Charles’s career, his insights into design innovation, and his role as a jury member for the FIT Sport Design Awards.

Is Ai Good for Design?  — LinkedIn
Is Ai Good for Design? I am not here to say the answer is no.

Sportswear designer inspired by new mobility  — Futurride
One of those “outside” professionals inspired by new mobility is Charles Johnson, Founder of startup DrivenByCharles (DBC), whose most recent role was Global Director of Innovation at sportswear leader Puma Group in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The mission of his new enterprise is to advise on design, innovation, and strategy to help organizations by providing research and insight on product development, brand strategy, innovation road mapping, and story development.

See How an Ultimate Outsider Became a Design Visionary Inside Adidas, Puma and Beyond  — Women in Sports Tech
While he had a taste of how he could solve problems in the real world of sports, Charles muses, “I was never intrigued by creating something that simply looks or feels good…I was intrigued by making something work…or work better.” The concept of making something work or work better, is distilled into Charles’ calling card, delivering simple solutions for complex problems.