A log of my Industrial Design Thesis Project on highly functional business casual footwear for the bicycle/active transportation commuter.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sometimes, you just gotta...
do it. I am so humbled/thankful/inspired/overjoyed by all the assistance I have been receiving from industry experts and friends.
Last weekend, Emil, "sketch like a beast" Ryan, and I drove up to the northwest for a 4 day road trip. There were two primary goals–be at Ryoko's 3rd birthday party in Seattle (her uncle needs to be present at special occasions like this) and meet with key players in the footwear industry for further networking and to gain valuable insight for my thesis and future.
Much thanks to Tom Luedecke (Jordan), Francis Hosana (Nike), Matt Rhoades (Nike), Andrew Croll (Nike), FT Brown (Nike), Cameron Braithwaite (Brooks Running) (he said the best thing to me the other day..."one day you'll be my boss." lol I love him for that), Greg Diharce (MatMarket/Tiong Liong), Tim Berglund (Clarino), Brian Bednarek (Mesh01), and my fellow Pensole brothers Jamal, Edmund, Eric, and Glen (big ups to them for making it happen up in Portland).
I'm ever so pumped for my future in footwear. Thanks everyone.
More to come...
Last weekend, Emil, "sketch like a beast" Ryan, and I drove up to the northwest for a 4 day road trip. There were two primary goals–be at Ryoko's 3rd birthday party in Seattle (her uncle needs to be present at special occasions like this) and meet with key players in the footwear industry for further networking and to gain valuable insight for my thesis and future.
Much thanks to Tom Luedecke (Jordan), Francis Hosana (Nike), Matt Rhoades (Nike), Andrew Croll (Nike), FT Brown (Nike), Cameron Braithwaite (Brooks Running) (he said the best thing to me the other day..."one day you'll be my boss." lol I love him for that), Greg Diharce (MatMarket/Tiong Liong), Tim Berglund (Clarino), Brian Bednarek (Mesh01), and my fellow Pensole brothers Jamal, Edmund, Eric, and Glen (big ups to them for making it happen up in Portland).
I'm ever so pumped for my future in footwear. Thanks everyone.
More to come...
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Book, Boards, Presentation...
so the next post will be a while from now until I finish my end-of-semester wrap up.
by the way, thanks all for the feedback re: possible subtitles/taglines for my project.
One of my favorites "WORKS: Better than your car" .. thx brandon
by the way, thanks all for the feedback re: possible subtitles/taglines for my project.
One of my favorites "WORKS: Better than your car" .. thx brandon
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tooling wooden mold v2
Just got the email from China that my wooden mold has been fixed. It should arrive this week. I already know I'll be making a bunch of revisions on this. I'm thinking of extending the shank (which sits in the middle section) forward, for instance.
Again, this is for a vulcanized design. This past week I found that I might have to explore a cemented shoe instead to accommodate my TPU-like print/lamination on the upper. (the TPU would melt in the oven)
Looking forward to revising this to make it a cemented type of cupsole (or designed for both vulc and cemented?!).
Again, this is for a vulcanized design. This past week I found that I might have to explore a cemented shoe instead to accommodate my TPU-like print/lamination on the upper. (the TPU would melt in the oven)
Looking forward to revising this to make it a cemented type of cupsole (or designed for both vulc and cemented?!).
Friday, April 8, 2011
Medial explorations
Got some more feedback from Jason Brown, ol' colleague at my time with Zoo York/Skechers; trying to push my durability/breathability story on the upper whilst not abandoning the timeless/clean aesthetic of this project.
The asymmetric throat and higher medial quarter panel remains. Some things explored per JB's advice--stitch free vamp overlay/welded, super thin TPU toe cap of some sort, and box leather instead of patent leather for the quarters.
The asymmetric throat and higher medial quarter panel remains. Some things explored per JB's advice--stitch free vamp overlay/welded, super thin TPU toe cap of some sort, and box leather instead of patent leather for the quarters.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Initial mens styles and colorways
A mens low and mid oxford. The key styling feature here (among many functional attributes to be explained later) is the asymmetric throat, raising the medial quarter to consider less lace exposure to the chainring. Details and renderings to come...
Womens Low 1 Colorways
Women's tech pack in progress. For now, here are some colorway explorations for the women's low oxford.
The style is a subtle variation in the mens oxford silhouette: a larger collar opening, a lower collar, and a vamp that extends over the eyelets for a stronger touch of organic lines. The vamp will have a story of durability as the material contrasts the neighboring quarter.
For material possibilities, I'm thinking of utilizing the gamut of leathers and faux leathers with natural textures.
The color palette, as cliche or overused as it may sound, is an urban jungle inspiration--combining timeless rugged earth tones with deep hues referring to rich, natural organics. The goal is to pronounce the rich expression in sartorialism (color, materials, subtle details,...) on an everyday contemporary silhouette of a vulcanized shoe. Tough but slick. Bold but clean. Ok, you get it (I hope!)
msb
The style is a subtle variation in the mens oxford silhouette: a larger collar opening, a lower collar, and a vamp that extends over the eyelets for a stronger touch of organic lines. The vamp will have a story of durability as the material contrasts the neighboring quarter.
For material possibilities, I'm thinking of utilizing the gamut of leathers and faux leathers with natural textures.
The color palette, as cliche or overused as it may sound, is an urban jungle inspiration--combining timeless rugged earth tones with deep hues referring to rich, natural organics. The goal is to pronounce the rich expression in sartorialism (color, materials, subtle details,...) on an everyday contemporary silhouette of a vulcanized shoe. Tough but slick. Bold but clean. Ok, you get it (I hope!)
msb
Other than TIME, the biggest barrier in design and development...
...is communicating between your cohorts in China.
It's not new to me, being a former product manager dealing with our China agents on a daily basis... but really are my diagrams and explanations hard to understand? The answer by virtue of this post topic is YES, apparently. I just have to be patient and seek other ways to get my point across. And that my friends is an essential part of Industrial Design; not only seeking different/smarter ways to reach the needs of the consumer but also being creative in how we can get our point across to all the touchpoints during development.
Efficiency.
Oh right, the reason why this post came about is because my first shank model came out absolutely different than what I ordered. Round 2, here we go.
It's not new to me, being a former product manager dealing with our China agents on a daily basis... but really are my diagrams and explanations hard to understand? The answer by virtue of this post topic is YES, apparently. I just have to be patient and seek other ways to get my point across. And that my friends is an essential part of Industrial Design; not only seeking different/smarter ways to reach the needs of the consumer but also being creative in how we can get our point across to all the touchpoints during development.
Efficiency.
Oh right, the reason why this post came about is because my first shank model came out absolutely different than what I ordered. Round 2, here we go.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
WORKS: Upper Concept Sketches--PLEASE COMMENT.. Any feedback is good feedback!
Some concept sketches...
 |
| *the black "overspray" on the middle midtop is... exactly that look i'm going for, if you were wondering. |
Thank you, msb
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
China: where shoes, among everything else in this world, are made
here's a little taste of my January trip to some shoe factories in China...
foxing application pre-vulcanization
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