Air Jordan XXIV concept

Here’s the final rendering…the rest is below. Took me some time. Hopefully you enjoy them!

Feedback appreciated!

-TH

Inspiration:








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sketches and early concepts:

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Customizable IPS/outsole:

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Advanced Resin Transfer Molding Chassis concept:

Lacing/wiring concept:


What you actually see:



Assembly:

Colorways:

materials etc:


Wow. Great work man. This really seems like the perfect design for an Air Jordan. It’s simple, inspired, and with advanced and innovative tech. I remember when you showed me this design in it’s earlier form, and I really liked it then, but all the tech and everything on this version just blows me away. All in all looks awesome.

Ps I love that lenoardo da vinci drawing with the jumpman morphed in…that’s sick…lol.

Tight

the hotness!!!

very concise, home slice. the presentation is very clean and it is evident the work you put in resulted in a very thoughtful design. my lone criticism(s) is that aesthetically, the final design does look to have evolved much from the initial sketches? that might very well be a result of editing, but it is something that jumped at me…tangentially though the design seems to be very tech driven, that element of the “unexpectedness” (i recall hearing that somewheres…cannot remember where though) that comes with the flagship jordan shoe, just is missing that umph! imo…i think you holding bak on us TH, ha!

very dope, nonetheless

Thanks guys.

Jungle- thanks for taking the time to critique. Agree with you on most of that…that “umph” is a mo fo. Still trying to perfect that.

This project was very non-linear for me in that I was doing some sketching, then some stuff on the computer and sort of jumping all around until it finally spun itself together. There could be some disconnection there to the sketches as a result. Believe it or not, there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t post because it was just overwhelming…so I cut it down to get the basic idea across.

-TH

nice job!!!

what softwaers did you use?

Yeah , yeah , yeah Tony !!! Congrats man , this is an Amazing work brother , I just LOVE it ! What should I say more … I don’t know , I’m just speachless ! Both stuff , this one and the Puma’s … amazing , man , amazing ! I wish you good luck with these bad boys , man , this work have to rewarded in the right place !!! Good luck , brother ! OLE !

Super thorough: I love the butterfly views, those are beautiful images on there own. Great work.

I’m not sure about the stealth chopper inspirado though, i seams doubtfull that the brand would go back to stealth for inspiration. I like how you pulled the coffered dome out for inspiration in the heel… might be more in there… my advice would be to keep to one inspiration story and go deep on that story.

The forefoot of the outsole feels a bit wide, but then I always tend to over sleeken them. I feel like it could have more flow to it…

I don’t want this to undercut how great of a project this is, but I want to give you some feedback because I know where you are and where you want to be… good stuff man, keep it rolling.

MD~

Feedback like that is exactly why I have this work posted up here. Thank you. I agree with what you are saying. In terms of the stealth concept, I actually started this before I knew anything about the XX2, but interesetingly enough, a few of the ideas came pretty close.

-TH

cool.

I figured but wasn’t sure, that was some good foresite!

I understand what Jungle is saying about “umph!”, and what Micheal is saying aout the forefoot width. But, aside from that… Dude! … Dewd! … Dood! …


Dude.

As i wrote earlier today over at Kicksguide, awesome job. But I know you’re not posting this here to bolster your ego, so here are my two krone’s.

Before I checked out your complete project over here, my first thought was that this was a team based shoe. However, after viewing the whole thing I realized it was very “Air Jordan” in terms of performance being put first. I agree with Ade’s comment about the shoe lacking a certain “oomph” to a certain extent, however, I really like how you combined the helicopters sharp horizontal line and the anatomical lines in the midsole, visually it looks terrific. Those kind of subtle details really make me appreciate a shoe, and I’m a big fan of minimally designed shoes (Air Pippen II being my all time favorite), but I feel there has to be something that catches you from a distance.

I read somewhere that in order to create a succesful shoe, you have to:

  1. Catch the customer from a distance, make the shoe distinct somehow, so he’ll want to pick it up.
  2. When viewed from up close he should notice the details and quality manufacturing.
  3. Delivering performance and comfort when tried on.

(something like this, does anyone remember something along these lines being posted?)

You’re right there, some minor tweekings or making something pop out should do the trick.

Your sketches explain your thought process really well, and illustrate that this project was not at all about painting a pretty picture.

All the tech stuff, amazing, nothing to add. Beautiful illustrations, the butterfly, dope! I really admire how you go into details about the materials used, I remember a certain someone that worked for Fila before moving some place else always going into detail about material use.

One other thing that I would look into, before you put this in your portfolio, is refining the graphic design part of your presentation, in terms of narrowing your font selection down to two maybe and deciding where to use underlines or bold. What I’m talking about is most apparent on your two inspiration sheets, you’ve got serif fonts in the body and some sort of pixelled font as headings that don’t appear anywhere else. Looking at some of those things would really make your presentation seem as more of a whole. A good thing to do would be to sit down a divide your text into three or four groups or so. One group of main headings, second of under headings, then perhaps two groups of text bodies, depending on how technical and thorough it is. One other thing is the framing of your images, the rounded edges look good and relate to the project, but on some places you have sharp edges on your frames, is there a reason for this? I think sticking to the rounded ones would be the way to go. Line thickness as well, they seem to vary somewhat on borders. But overall, you’ve got some great graphics that really complement your design, I just think it’s a matter of simplifying them a bit.

I think that pretty much sums it up, like I said earlier over on KG, I’m really being picky here and I think this is one of the strongest and most thorough concepts posted by any of us that frequent these boards. Thanks for sharing Tony.

kind regards, Sindri

Sindri: Thanks for that critique!

Just what the doctor ordered. I agree with you on pretty much everything. Granted, my graphic design is pretty weak because, well, I don’t know a damn thing about graphic design! LOL. I basically go “that looks cool” and move on. I figure the focus is the shoe in the end, so I try not to spend too much time on that type of stuff…though apparently I should. Thanks for the wake up call.

Has anybody noticed the similarity between the retractable missles on the Comanche (frontal view) and the way the Molded malleolus in the sock sticks out from the cutaway in the upper? Thought that was cool… :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks again to all who put in their 2~

-TH

that is a sick, sick concept. great job! i just read your story on kicksguide and it mentioned that you did some freelance stuff for jordan? what kind of stuff did you do there?

anyway, could you explain in detail this resin transfer molding? i’d like to know more about this process.
also, how does that fit mechanism work in making sure there isn’t too much restrictive force on the foot? you mentioned that it works like a seatbelt, so i’m assuming that there is a locking mechanism on sudden, jerky movements, correct? but how does this work for the length of the person’s running stride and movements in basketball? i.e. would i feel a irregular or continuously oscillating sense of restrictive force while i play? also, how does it limit the degree of lockdown?
sorry for nitpicking, but the pictures are kinda small for me to mke out.

Amazing work!
Only little hints.

  1. No need to have a midsole like look. You don’t have a normal upper, so what about a regionalized midsole and outsole that better mimic the cushioning technology and give some futuristic look that will make the shoe shine?

  2. As Denis Dekovic said once, jumpman logo on an “AIR JORDAN” shoe should be in an unexpected position.
    Shoe should be an “AIR JORDAN” and you may look around just to confirm that…oh yeah, the logo is here!

  3. Toebox, I would like to stay away from past incarnations…I know what Michael Jordan says, but when Tinker Hatfield “Da Vinci” came in with some very cool variation (XI), Michael didn’t have nothing to say…be smart on that!

  4. Take advantage from all the technology you put inside this shoe, show little hints of that. I know it’s very very difficult to keep it simple and clean at the same time!!! … making it too simple could result in a more generic look. Tough balance!

Since, like you, I’ve tried to design AJ’s a lot of times, I admire your effort because you went very deep on that! My advice could be just to remix a bit the aestical stuff to make it more in tune with great researches and technology you have put into this concept. Just this.

Ciaooo
MC [pietro]

ps: loving the italian renaissance inspirations!!!

Thanks guys!

These critiques are really great. I actually anticipated most of these responses whie designing.

Bohrdom: I freelanced for JB for all of 2004. It was just conceptual sketching and my ideas came out on products like the AJ XXI, XXI PE and B 2’rue. I sketched on other projects as well, but nothing that ended up on shelves. It was definitely a great learning experience for me and a dream come true to work on this type of stuff.

Yes, I suppose I need to explain the advanced resin transfer molding a bit. I learned about this process while researching the development of the Comanche, which was supposed to be the best Military helicopter ever developed. After years and billions of dollars spent, the project was actually terminated, but some great things developed for it.

Advanced resin transfer molding is an epoxy impregnated fabric, so it is basically like carbon fiber in a 3D mold. The fiber lines the mold and is then injected with a resin that solidifies it. The strength/durometer can be fine-tuned based on the braid of the fabric. This process was used to replace parts on the comanche to reduce weight by 30% over carbon fiber. This is why you see this feature very prominent on the shoe. This chassis provides a single solution for breathability (at the heel), stability, and flexibility while remaining light weight. It serves as a heel counter, lateral stabilizer/support structure, shank AND the last of the shoe. It is curved at the side to cup the foot when making hard cuts and I put the anatomical foot map detail on it to call out it’s anatomical purposes. This ARTM process is also used for making golf clubs and intricately molded medical equipment.

As far as the fit mechanism, the idea was to have the shoe FEEL llke a sock, or not wearing a shoe really. So it hugs the foot, but is restrictive when needed. Now, I am no engineer, but this would require a LOT of studies on neccessary forces on the foot during play, etc. The winding spring inside the unit would determine the force applied during a relaxed or running state…but I could not get specific on it since it is only a concept. I wanted something that looked and functioned very simply, but was very technical underneath…much like an engine under the hood of a car. I added the compression sleeve over the top to protect everything, make the shoe sleeker/more aerodynamic and to make the foot feel supported. I chose to go with a zip-up construction since it has never been successfully used on an AJ…mostly because it looks cheesey…which is why I covered it up with a protective and flexible molded piece.

Hope this helps!

-TH