Chad Ballew

I am the artist and creator of Sickoz. I have been working professionally as an artist and animator for over 20 years in advertising, comics, board games and more. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s exposed me to a ton of amazing toys, cartoons, video games and movies. One day I was drawing some shoes as if they were disgusting monsters in the spirit of the “Gross Out” era of toys and the idea hit me like a freight train. Sickoz was born! I wanted to bring a shoe to life that was not only one with custom art on it, but was alive as a character itself! A shoe that that existed in a real narrative universe and captured the gross, fun, collectability we all miss from the 80’s and 90’s. You can think of Sickoz as action figures for your feet!

I’ve been painstakingly working on the idea for over two years. Working with various manufacturers and fulfillment companies, creating hundreds of hours of art and design. This is not only new and disgusting shoe brand that will be bringing you tons of amazing, nostalgic ways to express yourself, but it is also a labor of love. I' wanted to create something I loved that I also felt didn’t exist.

Series 1 of Sickoz is the culmination of blood, sweat and slime as I’ve traversed the world of creating a shoe brand in an era of AI art, tariffs and a host of other difficulties. The magic of Garbage Pail Kids, Mad Magazine, Madballs and Saturday Morning Cartoons are in my DNA and I hope it comes across in the art I produce for Sickoz. 100% HUMAN-MADE art! Each release will only be available for a limited time window. After that, they will never be produced again in the same way. If I create variants, they will be clearly marked as such. I am not only an artist, but a collector myself and I want Sickoz to be insanely collectible.

This is only the beginning of Sickoz, and I couldn’t be more excited. This first series will be produced in very low numbers and will definitely be the “Issue #1” of a long series of amazing, gooey, slimy, disgusting characters. I have big plans for the future as I build this universe of characters and creatures and I can’t thank you enough for your support!

-Chad AKA Dr. Sicko