Real Footwear Design

Special Interest Areas
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Latest on LI-

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A bad sample is always the developers fault.”

A first pullover comes back looking like a potato and the designer points to the hot rendering and says “See!? Look what the factory got wrong! Someone screwed up my awesome design!”

“Designers just don’t understand how shoes are really made. The sketch is impossible.”

I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard sentiments like this. I once had a factory development partner tell me that all designers had “Designer Brain” - meaning an inability to compromise and design with realistic development in mind.

The truth is not so black and white.

9/10 times there is always a bad sample. It’s part of the process. I can probably count on one hand the number of first pullovers I’ve seen in 20 years that look good.

The difficulty however is often in the disconnect between design and development.

Bad development can indeed make bad samples from good design. But good development can’t make good shoes from bad design. Both have to be good for the end product to be successful.

For design to be good, it should be informed and take advantage of the footwear development and production process.

For development to be good, I believe it needs to be accurate. That is, the end result should as closely match design intent and detail as possible.

As a footwear designer who is often also involved in development, I believe the responsibility starts with design.

Good design doesn’t make a good shoe in spite of development, but because of it. Good design is good if it makes the development easier and leverages efficiencies, process and shoemaking in a way that reinforces the design goals and final result and is designed for mass production.

In an upper design, for example, that can mean using pattern breaks to reduce material usage, nest better for cutting and reduce waste. The pattern will look nicer on the last, have a better shape once lasted… and the pattern maker and person ordering materials will like you.

Footwear developers also have a responsibility to understand design. Good footwear developers will ask a designer questions… “why do you want it like that?” … and answer when a designer asks ”why can’t it be done this way?”. It’s always easier to produce a sample the same way it has always been done. Development is problem solving.

Good design and development I believe challenges the status quo and finds new solutions. Together.

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I’m talking about footwear design, but I’m pretty sure this also applies to most kind of design…

What makes a great shoe design? Balance.

There should always be 3 things “the same”, and three things “different”. Too much new, and it’s confusing. Too much old, and it’s boring.

Those things “the same” are the design elements that act as a visual shorthand and set up a design and put it in context. The toe spring of a running shoe, The toe cap pattern of retro basketball sneaker. The suede of a hiking boot. Those expected elements invite the viewer into the product and make them feel comfortable.

The 3 things “different”?

That’s the design flex. Here, a good designer takes something expected and flips it, twists it, removes, adds or appropriates from another category. Uses construction or shoemaking knowledge to reinvent, reinterpret or renew.

It can be anything.

Colors or materials from lifestyle on a performance product. A snakeskin football boot… It can be a trick pattern. An oversized logo that wraps around the upper onto the outsole. It can be technical. Double lasting, a molded strobel board, an injected EVA tongue.

The point?

Design is never one thing. It’s many things. And those 3 things “different” have to exist in the context of the 3 things the same.

But at the heart, there’s always balance.

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Not a review. But some thoughts on a shoes I’ve been using a lot lately and I think has taken some pretty good design and engineering risks.

Saucony Endorphin Elite. I ran a 5k PR in these (18:13) on the weekend and plan on using them for my goal marathon next month.

I didn’t design these. But wish I did.

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A few more thoughts on the same topic I wrote about last week.

Design is Compromise.

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Are you even a footweardesigner if you don’t have many, many bins of cut up shoes?

Some of these are 20 years old!

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Where are all the cool running shoes? Will a nano-sized brand be the answer?

We runners have never had more options for cool.

Cool is gear that you doesn’t make you say “sorry, I just came from a jog” when you hit the post long run brunch. Cool is gear that looks good without compromise. Not “good for a running shoe”.

Cool is the culture of running.

Today, there’s more running culture brands than there are tattoos a hipster runner’s arm.

Sayksy
Tracksmith
Bandit
Miler
Ciele

But where are all the cool running shoes?
Real running shoes?
Performance running shoes.

Have nano performance running brands “hit the wall”?

“I can’t think of any cool running shoes that would make me want to set aside my Saucony Elite.”

Am I missing something?

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Via https://www.instagram.com/directivecollective?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

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2024 Design resolutions. Always trying to be a better real footwear designer.

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Sorry, not sorry. It’s not Real Footwear Design if it’s not design for-

  1. The Foot
  2. Function
  3. Fabrication
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It’s not about the tool but the end result. And that means making real things.

Making sketches of shoes is easy. Making shoes is hard. A good footwear designer will not only have a vision that combines aesthetics with Fit and Function but also has a keen understanding of Fabrication (the 3 "F"s of Real Footwear Design).

Knowing how shoes are made isn’t something you learn from YouTube. It’s not something that AI knows. It’s knowledge you can only get from being in and around shoe factories, suppliers, developers, engineers, mold makers and production experts.

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How would you describe or characterize your (footwear design agency’s) brand ‘voice’, and how is that expressed in the written text copy? TBH I get a somewhat ‘chiding’ tone.

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@slippyfish Good question

did you read the whole LI post or just the excerpt above?

This content is made for social so a bit more personal than typical Studio content.

The voice is my voice. I’d like to think it is assertive yet educational and authentic as an expert but open to discourse. While I try not to do any click bait, sensationalizing like the YouTuber stuff I hate I do hope to provoke opinion and discussion.

Not sure if that helps.

In truth I’m always looking to improve and regularly check in with industry people I know and new contacts to hear how the tone and content is received.

Ultimately I am making content about topics I’m passionate about to share and educate and don’t really have a plan :wink:

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Really though, worrying about design costs just tells me a client isn’t serious or doesn’t understand product development.

On more than one occasion I’ve had a potential client pass on an “expensive” design proposal…only to have them come back 6 months later after going with a “cheaper” designer and now stuck in development hell, wasting a set of molds, behind schedule looking for me to fix it.

You get what you pay for.

Good design is expensive but bad design is costly.

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It’s pretty obvious to us designers but I still think it needs to be said -

Trust the process.

If there’s one thing I always try to communicate to clients it’s this.

If you are not familiar with the footwear design and development process it can seem overwhelming. Looking at a loose sketch and trying to imagine how a shoe will feel? It’s almost impossible. But this our task as designers, developers, PLMS and footwear professionals.

“Trust the Process” is a common saying in running and one that every coach I know repeats. When you are deep in middle of marathon training and your legs are constantly tired of high mileage it’s important to realize you aren’t there yet. You are supposed to be tired. You aren’t (yet) supposed to be running your goal paces. Trust the process.

Likewise in design I always try to appreciate where I’m at. At the concept phase I don’t worry where every stitch will go and how the molds will be made. I trust that I have the knowledge and will have the time and appropriate opportunity to figure those things out.

This is the iterative nature of design and development.

At each stage in the design and development process there are problems to solve. But you can’t solve all of them in one step. Not only is everything interconnected - changing the material may necessitate changing the pattern - but anyone who has worked with a factory will know there’s only so much you can communicate at once before everything gets messed up.

My role? As a consultant (and often guide to clients new to the footwear design and development process) I need to be know what problem needs to be solved when. I need to know what I don’t know (and need to solve now) and differentiate the from the unknown unknowns (that I will solve later).

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Latest thoughts on design and innovation…

To add to the post, I’d say that not only do I think innovation lies between design and development, but I also think it is a shared responsibility, with the technical side of development doing a lot of heavy lifting to make things happen.

While I’ve never had the pleasure of working within a brand that has Innovation specialists, and most of the time I’ve done development on my own products, that development has always been enabled by people who know far more than I do about the technical side of things.

I don’t think innovation can happen alone in design …otherwise it’s just an idea. And we all know the magic happens in execution!

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Rest of that comment tech pack for those interested.

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Did you know the winner of the US Olympic Trials was wearing 4 year old shoes?

While many of the other runners and top finishers wore the latest and greatest from various brand including “prototype” styles still in development from Puma, Brooks, and ASICS, men’s winner Conner Mantz wore the original Nike Alphafly 1 to victory (2:09:05).

The Nike Alphafly Next% (1) was released in 2020. The volt yellow “Fast Pack” colorway Conner wore came out in 2021.

Nike Alphafly 3 was released to the public January 4, 2024.

As runner and running shoe designer, “obsolesce” is an interesting topic…

Full article below:

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Low Cost and High Value?

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Good discussion over on LinkedIn…

Here’s 3 more ways to reduce footwear cost based on my 23 years of real world experience.

➜ Material Magic. Carefully plan your material usage to match your MOQ. Extra material sitting in the warehouse after production is a waste of money you will pay for in “loss” or in “overhead” on your CBD.

➜ Forecast. Discuss not only FOB costs with your factory, but also forecast volumes. You may be able to negotiate a lower LOP (labor/overhead/profit) on lower price, volume products where price really counts if you can promise a bigger cut of those higher end, lower volume products where there’s more margin to split.

➜ Ask. Ask all of your suppliers where you can reduce costs. From the mold maker to mesh supplier to box maker, if everyone is aware that you are looking for opportunities to reduce costs you can have all the experts working to help solve your problem and hit your target. 1000 small cuts vs. 5 big ones across the entire supply chain is a lot easier and yields better quality product in the end.

Designing “cheaper” products is only one way to lower prices. Good Design considers all the options available throughout the product creation process.