Hello Gents and Gals, I’m revisiting a concept sketch of mine, I figured I would fine tune it before I stick it up on my corofolio … I have several other sketches on the same project, but I figured this is the best one…so I’ll revise all others based on on this one. There is obviously some influence from PUMA…maybe I’ll post up what the other side should look like…
I’m looking for insight…improvement…critique…
What should I fix ?
What’s your general opinion…?
What is the boot for?
Who wears it?
What do the competitive products look like?
What brand is it for?
Let the answers guide your revisions. Right now, I would sat the sketch style and model both look very rough.
The boot is supposed to be geared towards a rugged user, It also might have a steel toe insert.
So for people that have industrial jobs, where they’re required to wear protective shoes, this is a stylish alternative.
Here’s the competition…the shoe that inspired it all…regular issue Grainger shoes…these are the worst…if you want Hobbit feet…these are the one’s to buy…
4. I haven’t chosen a specific brand…PUMA has the most influence…so I guess I would choose PUMA as the brand.
answering the 1st 2 questions should make it easier to show what things/details need to apparent on your design and its function is…is it an anti-gravity ski-boot worn by eXtreme boarders in the year 2050? what thing need to be on this shoe to highlight that function/use?
if this is meant to be more of a complete project, the second 2 questions will be important in terms of differentiation & style; whereas if this is a concepting exercise, the 1st 2 are enough to get the wheels spinning
Junglebrodda… yeah I would say right now its way up in the area of a concept exercise…but I want to attempt to get it as close as possible to reality…
well people that want a rugged boot for their industrial jobs, would likely opt for a much more conservative, functional solution…in could be an interesting mix to do a work boot in the puma style, you would have to resolve the clash between puma’s style and the need for a functional boot…
very true…I’ll take this into consideration…okay I’m off to the drawing board…
Yes, i would look at this market. Industrial boots have not changed in a long time, I would doubt anything over an incremental change would be accepted by this consumer.
Also, Puma is a overall a fast fashion x sport brand. Why would they make a functional work boot?
Yes, I had a warehouse job…and they gave the worst pair of steel toe shoes to wear…they were very uncomfortable on my feet…they tore up my toes and they messed up my feet…I don’t think my feet have ever been the same again…
The other thing was that part of my job was to move fast…so 2lb shoes really hindered my movement…I ended up buying my own pair of Timberland boots…with steel toe insert…which were probably the same weight…but a lot less painful on the feet…
Also boots and shoes made for industrial jobs are all ugly…or decent looking to say the least…so I wanted to introduce style into this market…I think that’s why I chose PUMA as an influence…I guess I’m not to wild on saying that the Puma brand would come out with something like this…
what would be a shoe brand…that is constantly innovating shoe wear… and would also come out with something completely different from left field…like this project?
…And that was my inspiration for this “stylish protective boot”…
I was thinking of the features I wanted to include on this boot…here’s just a few…
Lightweight materials for flexibility and that “not so heavy on the feet” feeling…
One or two general “Velcro” straps for quick removal and readjustment of shoe…{readjustment is crucial when working 8 hour days of walking, climbing stairs, and running}…your foot expands and swells up and the end of the day…and messing around with laces is the last thing you want to do every other hour…
It has to be a high boot for ankle protection as well…
And of course, last but not least…a nice looking boot…maybe even less aggressive looking…but not sure yet about that…its still an industrial shoe…
check out the danish brand HKS http://hks.dk.
They make a line of safety shoes and boots that doesnt look like traditional safety shoes. not all so pretty, but seem in the direction you are going.
here’s one-
I actually could see Puma getting into a market like this. They seem all about making “uncool” categories “cool” (like golf, cricket, badminton, etc.) so why not safety shoes.
What would be interesting in the approach is a more detailed study of who the consumer is for this. i dont think there are too many fashionista construction workers, but agreed that there could be room for something that has a non-work boot look.
kinda like those safety helmets that look like cowboy hats 
i’d suggest to work up some more sketches before going to a model.
R
Awesome thanks for the link…yeah I agree with you say about Puma…I’ve already come up with a handful of prelim sketches…hopefully I can scan them in and post’em in the next couple days.
There seems to be that there’s never enough time to do all of the things you want to do…
Well I can scratch off one more thing I’ve been wanting to do, which is scan in these concept sketches on this ongoing steel toe boot concept I’ve been working on for a while now…
by no means is it finished, it seems that I’m always restarting this project…so here’s the most recent stuff…I plan to have a finished sketch by the end of today…
before you do a finished sketch, you should ask yourself if your design fits your aim? it might also help if you stuck with b&w sketches, it would be one less thing to worry about…
sweet good advice…thank you
