Monday, May 2, 2011

Footwear design.

Inspiration/sketches
 My fiance is currently studying footwear design, and recently had a project working with a prominent UK sporting good company. The project was to design an outdoors shoe for the teen Asian market. Quite a lot of research goes into all of her projects, and makes a shoe takes a lot of time and effort. Unfortunately I can't detail the entire process here, so here are the basics.

One of her concept renderings





She started with a bit of research on structural shapes in order to get a general feel for the shoe. Different materials have different amounts of stretch, breathability, and durability so each needs to be placed properly in order to get the right feel for the shoe. If it were entirely mesh then it would wear like a loose sock and flop around, however if it were all leather it may be too hot and confined for the type of activity the shoe is designed for.
Finished prototype shown without sole



Next she researched the current trends in the sneaker market in Asia and found that in the teen market bright colors and even neons are quite prevalent. Multiple concept renderings led to the general design and color combination which would be used in the prototype. In the prototype she used all of the materials which would be used in the actual finished product; leather, mesh, foam. As you can see the finished prototype is actually a wearable shoe. I'm quite impressed with what she has done here and actually would like a pair for myself.

24 comments:

  1. That's a pretty cool looking shoe :D

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  2. uhm..u said they're for Asian teens, so i guess it shud be OK! Asian fashion sense is not of this world :p (in a good way)

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  3. those are really nice, something i would never wear myself b.c i dont like wearing flashy colour. but i do love the colours in it

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  4. Interesting info, what do you think about those vibram five finger shoes :P

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  5. Them's some nifty shoes!

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  6. @Zach
    Personally I love the vibram five fingers, she despises them though..says they look goofy.

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  7. its a pretty cool shoe and great designs

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  8. Such a vibrant phone, I wish I could design my own shoe it would be awesome!

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  9. Those are some loud shoes, look pretty cool though.

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  10. I like those, where can I get a pair?

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  11. The Asian teens are going to love this.

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  12. The colors reminds me Flash, the speedy superhero. How much money did it take to make this shoe?

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  13. Wow thats interesting info. thanks

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  14. that's pretty creative for footwear!

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