Soccer Shoe Redesign
The Task
Examine and design a sport centered piece of footwear and expand upon it. I chose soccer because of my experience playing it and refereeing for 6 years, and because of the possibility of improvement within its form.
The Goals
Create a stand out one of a kind design
Implement new safety features to protect feet
Create new lace technique to avoid shoes untying
Add features to compliment sprinting
Researching the Design Market
What's Out There
In person and online, it's clear that while the shoes are well designed functionally, each pair has parallel features, use and structure. While they work well, there is clearly room for a different design and added functions.
Finding a Vision
Ideation/Sketching
By focusing on sprinting, the design transitioned to a more unique shape. In order to sprint well, runners need to land on their toes instead of their heels as much as possible. Because of this sprinting technique, an angle was implemented on the front of the shoe to allow the users' toes to have more surface area to land and grip onto, theoretically allowing for better continuation of speed.
Cleats were also redesigned to be used on different terrains and for better grip while sliding on the field.
Finally, laces were replaced with a tightening elastic strap and a singular lace woven and connected between both sides of the shoe to allow the user to pull on the lace to tighten it.
Sole Prototyping
Sole Prototypes/Tool Studies
Initial sole prototypes were created from densely packed Styrofoam due to the ease of cutting it. This stage allowed us students to learn about tools such as the band saw, dremel, and heat cutters prior to producing our final models.
Final Model Creation
Final Sole/Body Development
The final sole model was made out of blue foam since it is similar to densely packed Styrofoam while allowing for better and more detailed design. I used my foot in a plaster cast to provide a rough form for the body of the shoe to give it a rough shape and attach other materials on to. Creating paper patterns for the shoe allowed for easy study of different forms, and an easier time cutting out fabric pieces for the final model.
Final Model Creation
Final Body (Pre-Photoshop)
Final Product
The final deliverable was an overall process video of the experience and the final poster for our product. While I've never had a lot of interest in footwear design, this project was a lot of fun and gave me the freedom to tackle a different design medium.