Some of you know that rkuchinsky is currently teaching a footwear design class for Carleton ID students. Well I happen to be one of those lucky students!! Check out my second project, evolving a Nike free run for the year 2020 (See attached) I’d love to hear any feedback 
Were you required to keep the existing outsole?
Your thumbnails are nice, if a little limited. Your technical drawing seems competent. The PS needs a little more pop. The whole page is kind of muted blue.
Conceptually…
The existing Nike Free line is great, but what is a natural running shoe going to be in 2020? Is it really still 25mm stack height in the heel with 10mm drop? Even today you can find zero drop shoes with 5mm stack heights. The design is more 2006 than 2020. For a student project I’d expect much more drama and experimentation. Push further for the next project.
I agree - we need to see some “space ships” - make it come from 2020!
But seriously - think about how it can be something mind blowing and different.
To reiterate what Brett and Nick are saying…
What you have drawn is a nice looking shoe, but it is more of a 2011 Nike Free B option. Go nuts 2020 is your opportunity to throw a bit of reality to the wind. The 2020 free might be spray on for all we know.
What do all the polygons do?
They make you run faster 
Just kidding. I got fixated on Nike’s line of 1-piece thermoformed uppers and wanted to incorporate that into the shoe. But the idea of one piece didn’t really work because the running shoe needs the mesh to breathe through… So in the end I just used the geometric shape as a throw back to the triangle cut-outs on the original shoe. In short I just thought it looked kind of cool and wanted to use it.
Brett (and others) thanks for the points on the concept, consider them noted. I will reach for the skies with the next project!
On the points for the photoshop rendering and the concepts, I actually pointed both of these out in my self-critique. I wish I’d gone further with the rendering, though I really am proud of what I was able to achieve! At some point you just have to call it a night. Seeing the other students’ work has given me ideas and tips on how to improve.
Finally, the choice was mine to leave the outsole as it was. I know the free run has already gone through quite a bit of evolution and I wanted to keep it clear which version I had started with. I agree the idea of barefoot running is becoming more popular and more people will be using the a thinner outer, but the original Free Run wasn’t exactly a true barefoot shoe; I think of it more as a transition shoe for runners who are used to the protection and structure of thick-soled runners! I did take a look at the vivo barefoot shoes in my research though. Pretty cool stuff!
