Senior Thesis :: TODDLER FOOTWEAR

Chris,

I don’t have kids so am looking at this “in theory” only.

From my perspective, going down the licensed character route cheapens the concept.

I see what you’ve done so far, and there is some great aesthetic and functional design ideas in the project. While I realize it’s not exactly what you are doing, but slapping a cartoon character on it to me screams “Sell-out, cheap”. It also might appear that way as a portfolio piece, something to consider. These days liscened characters are put on everything with very little regards to brand/fit, I don’t really see it as a design “plus”. see the topic “What is it with Nike, anyway” for more on that…

…IRL, you’ll have plenty of time to do those high volume, commercially driven products - why not do something different for a school project?

I do know there are a lot of licensed character footwear out there in the mass market (wal mart and all), but I see your design as a more sophisticated product, one for more discerning parents, esp. if you do go any “green” route in materials/construction.

I’d encourage you to perhaps re-think the idea… perhaps look more into high end toys like Brio, etc. I see your design as more appropriate to this market. something akiin perhaps to SoftStar http://www.softstarshoes.com/ and some of those other “premium” kids products… Not cheap, but a good solution.

I know a lot of parents, esp. of my own and a bit older generation who do everything possible to avoid branded items for kids. They value quality, design, and function (what seem to be your key drivers) over the traditional kids’ object values of cheap, disposable and flashy/branded/marketing-tie-in.

another angle if you still want to veer into this area, might be to develop your own characters. You already have the eyes/teeth, why not create some of your own characters.

this is some good inspiration -

R

I hear what you are saying, but the way he’s done that, I don’t think he has cheapened it at all. He hasn’t slapped a Mickey Mouse weld on the front of it, anyway. :laughing:

It depends which route he wants to take.

I think the work, done, so far, is a different animal (heh!) from brands such as the one you linked to, or brands such as See Kai Run or Robeez, I wouldn’t see it as selling to the same customer. It’s much sportier and more modern.

I agree that he should consider developing his own characters instead. That would definately add value.

There are some dreadful licensed products out there after all - has anyone seen the Lego stuff? Awful.

Definitely a lot to consider here, which is good. The whole character license thing was something that came up for this project because it was a finalist for a regional business concept design competition here, and there was a lot of emphasis put on that end of marketing strategy and opportunity. However, as you guys have pointed out, my goal was to not just simply slap on character logos and such…but look more at the subtle design cues such as texture changes, color schemes, character development, etc.

In terms of me actually developing my own character line…it’s something that has crossed my mind, but at this point it’s more of a time issue more than anything, especially with the deadline drawing near. If I were to go down that route, I would definitely want to do it right and spend a good amount of time on it with the whole branding and image.

Another option that I’ve been thinking about is maybe creating a product line that is inspired by animals and nature in general…not branded items like Ninja Turtles or Sesame Street. So, for example, one shoe could be simply turtle inspired, another could be a frog, a lion, a fish, a dinosaur, etc. Each unique source of inspiration can provide those design cues like textures, materials, and colors like I mentioned earlier, to bring the design to that next level. Also, you can begin to create “themes” within the footwear where maybe a summertime launch could be the sea creatures and stuff like that. It also begins to hit on a slight “learning experience” through the footwear for the child too, by introducing them to these different animals over time. Just a thought.

Overall, I really think all these options add to the depth of the project. In the final presentation, I think it’ll be good to show these different routes and say yea, this product can be character licensed, or it could be theme-based, and even developed into it’s own character line, and so on…I think it shows a good variety of options for one product.

I’ll be updating with more progress soon too…

Some closure detail that I’m working on:

Looking at utilizing velcro on the pull tab and toe area to simply cinch the excess cord down when the shoe is on the kid’s foot… keeping the slack out of the way. However, as the diagram shows, the simple detail of reversing the male/female velcro areas on the left/right shoes allows the shoes to stick together when not in use (similar to gloves clipping together)…hitting on the loss prevention idea.

interesting idea, but in reality might be to scratchy on the hook side of the velcro to be comfortable for a child or parent to pull on.

maybe instead of the toggle attaching to velcro on the vamp, there is a little pocket for it on the tongue. Check out cheerleading shoes. They often have a little pocket or flap that the laces go into. you could maybe also address the attaching of the two shoes in another way, maybe with some sort of special clip on that heel pull…

R

Yea, this came up in review yesterday too. I’ve got a couple ideas to work around that velcro detail, but someone also suggested magnets could work too.

On a bigger note, someone mentioned that it’s good for the shoes to stick together, but if they are separated in the first place (thrown around by the kid, misplaced, etc.)…what good is it to have that feature? Therefore, they suggested that there should be something worked into the velcro that makes the kid want to stick them together intuitively (maybe a character detail, etc)…but something that can push that effort.

One option that I’m exploring for the lace/toggle detail. Based off of the suggestions I got on Wednesday’s design review, this is looking at that question of how do you make the kid want to stick the shoes together when they’re off their feet. So, this is bringing the character detail to those toggle pulls, utilizing magnets to allow the slack to be cinched down to the toe, and switching the magnet placement in each shoe so that the magnetic opposites allow the shoes to clip together…

not sure if magnets would really be strong enough (and if so would be difficult to take apart). I do like the characterization of the parts though… another idea might be something where the shoes have parts that look like hands/paws and you make the shoes hold hands with each to attach them… I’m thinking still of more something with the heel pull area and not the toggle though…

R

That hand/paw idea is a good one. I’m gonna look at the heel pull tabs on the inner booties so that they can stick together too…I’ve been looking at the toggles mainly because it’ll help to both keep the over-shoes together, and also cinch that excess cord down when it’s on the foot.

Yeah i like the idea of some sort of hand or paw. I also don’t think you should have two faces on a shoe. R is right on about the magnets. I think the magnets would also raise the price a bit. I know that was one area parents agreed with when you first started gathering information. The project is moving along nicely though.All your thought and exploration will end in a really great final concept. Do you have to create a hand made model of your concept like you did in exploration?

Yea…think I’m going with the hand/paw idea because it’s also easier for me to prototype (no small details like the teeth or anything), and it’ll go along with the footprint theme that I have on the bootie. I’ve weighed the pros and cons between velcro vs. magnets, and I’m going with the magnets. I’ve done some quick testing and found some magnets that’ll work great. Also, from the research and talking I’ve done with the parents, the magnets will allow them to place the shoes on surfaces like the fridge, dry-erase boards, etc…so that they aren’t going crazy looking for them.

A final model isn’t required, but i’m definitely doing a more refined prototype with more detail and stuff.

Here’s an update with my current prototype…finishing some upper stuff, and now getting to the final adjustments on the sole…that sole in the pics below is a paper pattern. The orange toggle pull is a placeholder for now too, until I can get to those details that were discussed in the previous posts.

Wow, that is looking really nice! The prototypes look a lot cleaner than the last one. I realize that rounding the teeth was recommended but i like how they are pointed. The one thing a don’t like is the toggle. I feel it may just be to bulky. Great work, keep it up.

Thanks! It’s time consuming work, but definitely worth it. The toggles are proving hard to find online…I’m not really happy with the bulky look of the ball toggle either, however it does feels nice in the parents’ hands -but I’m still looking for other kinds of toggles that’ll look better.

awesome, send the techpack to the factory.

very nice. it has almost an old school Nike Aqua sock to it. My fave is the purple colorway, maybe in the same ACG vibe, dunno, but I’m feeling it!

Good stuff.

R

Thanks for the great feedback guys. Here’s a prototype update…dialing in some details…

totally bananas!

Yeah, i’m just loving your work right now. I figured the toggle had to do with finding one or something like that… The new views are great. Just great work!

Awesome stuff, great job documenting this process and great photos by the way. So nice to see clean product shots instead of grainy incadescent lit photos.

I may have to pull a Madonna and go get a baby just so I’d could have them rock these.