this was a personal project i “finished” about 2 months ago, i did it so i could learn to use 3d studio max. at the time i thought it was really good but after looking at it again i see many flaws both in its design and execution.
my 1st question(s) is can you see these flaws? if so are they obvious? second do you think it could be a portfolio piece as it is?
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I wouldn’t consider it a portfolio piece without having sketches-even if iil thumbnails-I would really look for that. i dont see a thought process really in this I see a product.(nothing is wrong with that, but I would like to see more)
for a portfolio piece-i would get rid of all the different colorways-it really i think would be a waste of space. once i see how you colored two of them I can see and understand-what I would suggest is instead of showing all the shoes in a color way by actually coloring the shoe-maybe use like color swatches that would let me know your color story and I could see what are possible color options-It is not needed for a enitre page for colorway-I would use that entire page for skecthes-thumbnails to a pretty clean line sketch (however you do ur thang) and then the other page would be what you have but also the color swatches so that i can see what the story is about-if you wanted to do a third then maybe to a completely crazy finished rendering (this is up to you-maybe just excess-and not needed) so in a portfolio case-on the left as you opened it up you have your sketches and then on the left you have your comp-renderings-color swatches-and descriptions
also with layout try it with out a border-or maybe make your border alot thinner-like maybe a .50pt. or .75 i think this would make it less bold. also in the lower left you have like a orange bubble-this is to kind of give it a techno-modern futuristic design-but i would do more with it, right now it just looks flat -and slapped ontop of the grey border, also kinda bugs me that the orange kinda is creeping off the page i would just mess with it some more-check out some grapgic design books- I think this could really help. (not knocking just helping)
also maybe create a grid system for your layout maight help keep it looking consistant… option-and watch the positioning-like on construction-i feel like the ankle strap is a lil too close to the titile-might want to rethink about positioning-and resizing who says it has to be this size-you could do your portfolio on 18x24 printouts—but i do like how you played with angles and scale of objects-
great start-I like but with some adjustments could be great.
post the sketches would like to see also-
uno-
thanks digitalvision, i still trying to figure out just how to organize & present
in a consistent format so that is a work in progress. these are only 2 pages out of about 7 so it is not the whole thing ,just the end product.
i am pretty secure in the rest of the work i did for this, but because i had some time to distance myself from it i see the end product differently now and wondered if it anything looks off to others.
I think it is a portfolio piece for sure.
1_ it looks fresh and innovative
2_ you don’t see many all digital models in the footwear world
A few points:
Those straps against your foot would hurt and cut into you while playing. You would want an internal bootie for protection
Your mesh layer is just cosmetic right now. It doesn;t really look like mech, it looks hard. I don’t think it could be constructed like that, it would be like a floppy flap, you would have to finish the edges somehow, stitched and turned or something, I would used the TPU piping that the Jordan LX-2 uses.
I think the plastic inserts would hurt
TPU makes for a slippery non flexible out sole, you would want some rubber pods
The swoosh never goes backwards (even though it kind of does on the LeBron shoe)
I would put “nike” on the top view instead of another swosh (my rule is I never like to see more than 1 swoosh at any time on a shoe)
That said, I think it is a great little concept, and even though a footwear experienced designer would notice all of those things, they wouldn’t hold it against a student. I wouldn’t change anything, just keep those points in mind for the future.
Great work, keep it up dude.
a little nit picky but…you mention a"mesh like material" in the upper, a “foam like material” in the footbed etc…dont say that…there is no mesh like material…just mesh or not mesh young jedi. same for the footbed…most of which are made of EVA, PU or combo of the two…not just a foam like material.
nice work…also try to show how the more innovative ideas actually work…like the lacing system made of a “nylon like material” 
The big swoosh on the side of the shoe bothers me. I have seen this a lot in the athletic shoe biz- but I would like to see more fresh thinking for a new concept. If it were me (and I have never ever designed a shoe) I wouldn’t make the swoosh that big. With Nike, Puma or whatever I am thinking the brand equity should be more transparent- while still making a firm statement that it is indeed a “Nike” - just my two cents.
I like the cad work though. The renders look nice. The “mesh” could be enhanced a bit with a better texture- if you are using max there are a ton of ways to fake mesh well.
ok, thanks. very good tips, i am in the dark when comes to specifics about certain materials as they pertain to kicks, so i basically tried to find out what materials are commonly used on shoes, where, and why.
the mesh like material i was thinking of would be more similar to the tech flex stuff from the jordan xix, i just did not have the words and it was very hard to model as i was still learning the program. thought about an internal bootie, could not pull it off in time. as for the big swooshes…i dunno i came up in the 90’s with all those gaudy shoes with the big nike checks…i just was feeling it in this case eveyone has their own tastes
so footwear designers do not commonly use cad? i remember seeing a digital model of the jordan 17s that was dope on the collector cd. and in the past 2 design secrets books both of the footwear projects they feature were computer modeled, do you think the industry will move that way? (alias studio would seem to be perfect for footewar design)
I have never once done cad. been doing designing for about two yrs. i think cad is more common in athletics than in casual. and also based on time of a project, because from my experiences it was alot faster for all the cad work to be outsourced-done in china-tiawan.
CAD is always done for the tooling (molded parts), but by modelers (at least here), that will change in time though. The uppers are hand sewn, so spending the time to put them in CAD is not really efficient when you can have a pattern engineer sew it up faster.
Not that it isn’t cool to explore, keep doing what your doing. That tech flex stuff BTW, well look at it in real life, the edges are very hard to finish and it hurts against the foot, tat is why there is an entire shoe under the stuff in the xix, it also doesn’t really conform to the foot to well in a large area like you are using it.
also might be cool to see a same technology just with different sizes-low-mid-maybe a boot version-look at the shox-they have all types of shoes-runners/trainers-basketball, and boots. so maybe take this concept and branch it out? this wouldnt have to go in your portfolio-just might be a fun exercise.
uno-
I design womens, and mens’ dress footwear so I generally don’t use CAD but it appears that most of you do. Is there a specific CAD program that you use? I know there are many versions out there and I am looking for the most standard one to use.
Thanks.