Knife Manufacturing Company was named as a joke. It is, by its founder Andy Eclov's own admission, a word that has no business sitting next to the phrase miniature skateboard — aggressive, out of place, slightly absurd. Eight years on, the joke has held. So has the brand. Conceived in 2018 as a provocation, Knife was built to fill a hole its founder had spent years staring at: a fingerboard industry that sold craft where he wanted brand, hand-sanded sincerity where he wanted

Many people perceive branding simply as an extension of marketing. While there is some truth in that perspective, the essence of branding...