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.