This was a project I did for my portfolio when I applied for my Industrial Design Program at the University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana. At this point it’s the most work I’ve ever done for a shoe design. I know it’s no where near as polished as someone with years of experience, but I’m only a freshman. Anyhoo, my idea was not to create something so aesthethically aggressive as an Air Jordan, but rather something the Gilbert would wear. He loves simple lines and a shoe that can be worn with jeans. He only wears lowtops, so I kept that in mind through out the project. Overall, this was more about evolution than revolution. All comments and especially criticism is welcome.
note: I know the text is really small, but the actual file size is obscenely large so my apologies. If you really want to see the text, I’ll figure out a way to put them up.
From the last gilbert shoe what have you done to make it perform better? have you gone to the store tried it on looked at how it was constructed, gone online to see more about what tech. was used and how much it weighed…etc? I am bringing up these points because even though as you stated it is more of a evolution then revolution, it needs to be a growth in how it performs/ tech story.
The placement of your flex grooves look to be close to the one out now. This is an area where I think you could improve the shoe and make it more flexible. Also something to keep in mind is not just to find solutions to flexibility with the outsole but to also look into solutions with the upper. How can you make the toe box/ vamp/ forefoot more flexible (something to sketch on)…
Some other areas to look at with the shoe to make it better would be breathability, fit, looking at variable lacing, and materials. With construction and materials how could it be made to perform better…
I wont get into color blocks or finger print details, etc until see more of a performance story. think once you have that happening then those other details come into play. Also something to keep in mind, a shoe to be worn with jeans, don’t allow that to dictate or effect how your shoe will perform, because if he likes a shoe to look good with jeans adidas can offer him a wide range of lifestyle product.
overall good see you showing different views and some sketches (be good to see more). Will be nice to see how you now break it down and re-work it.
Yo, MM basically nailed that one. Also, have you looked into who Gilbert is as a person? What are his interests? What makes his game unique? These are some other cues you can try to work into the details of your shoe once you have hashed out the performance attributes. They can also have an effect on how you implement the performance features. Overall, nice effort!
Cool, I’ll make sure to keep that in mind when I rework it. I haven’t done many complete shoe designs before so I was just wondering what I should be working on now. I definitely see your point about trying to bring out Gilbert’s personality in his shoe, but it’s a little difficult given that his personality and style of play are pretty aggressive and outspoken, whereas he’s stated on many occasions that he likes a shoe that can be worn with jeans (leaning more towards the simple side).