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Many years ago while researching the disappearing tradition of Huarache footwear in Mexico, I imagined a future, where only old people still played traditional sport and sport shoes/sneakers no longer had the same appeal as today. Just as in Mexico mostly old men were still making Huaraches and most people did not like them enough to wear over sneakers. Here is this link to that post.
Since “change is the only constant”, without going as far as to say that young people will stop playing sport, it’s not so unlikely that one day people will be less interested in wearing sport inspired shoes. Especially if they become more interested and influenced by other things, just as people were 100, 200, 300 years ago.
All generations have different interests and tastes, just like there was a time when people became less interested in wearing leather shoes. Although our predisposition towards favouring shifting baselines often prevents us from a greater awareness of change and how big it can be.
So what will replace sport as the leading influence of mainstream footwear design?
Continue Reading2, or 3 years ago I posted about how footwear would/could become digitalised, how Nike was investing in VR like Roblox and Animation companies, and how the computer games industry was bigger than the music and film industry combined.
Ultimately it’s probably not surprising considering how large the digital and video games industry are, their profitability and influence, and how many children, and soon to be teenage core Nike customers already spend time in VR (where they already purchase digital products), or playing video games (instead of sport) .
Last week, almost 1 full 24 month creation/development cycle later, Nike introduced their 2024 Olympic kits and AI designed footwear in a way that further suggests this transition to a disrupting digitalised footwear and fashion alternative.
From the Nike Athletes posing in ways which reminded of a video game select screen.
To the many AI footwear designs on show.
Photos via Sneaker News
I was expecting at least wearable shoes from the world’s N.1 shoe company, anything less seems more like corporate art, or a student project.
However after a moment for it to sink in, I wonder if their unwearable concepts could they be Nike’s stepping stones for a future lived in VR, or AR? Because initially it may be necessary to bridge the gap for many older customers that are not as immersed in VR, by offering similar physical alternatives. In this massive redefining leap, maybe not so dissimilar from how music went from CD’s to Streaming.
Shoe designs that don’t need to be physically wearable, because they are meant to be worn in VR and AR. Their physical alternatives, accessories that will serve as ornaments and be like dolls/toys that you can buy and keep on your shelves, as a collectible if you really like them.
Despite this week’s cries of sexist apparel and unwearable designs, maybe Nike are further ahead in digitalising footwear and traditional product than we all imagine?
Need more evidence, wait to watch the Euro 2024 football tournament and probably also the Olympics, filmed with mobile 90m dynamic Filou Speedcam “Railcams” by PMT in the style of a EA Football video game.
I just came across an old photo from 2004 when we were developing the FW2005 collection at Pony. For some reason I can’t find other sample photos (especially with cables) although there were many. It could be because my computer hard drive broke not long after.
I had found some kevlar cables for speed lacing, in a lace catalog. At that time Salomon had just released for SS2004, their incredible Salomon Fusion Dry and Symbio (for Women) soft shell shoes.
I though that instead, the kevlar cables could be used to create better and lighter support to court shoes, specifically basketball and tennis.
At first it seemed the cables could be stitched between upper and lining, like in this early sketch below. Then maybe woven through holes in the upper?
I think this proto below was a tennis shoe.
In the end the protos with cables looked quite boring, maybe because of the regular layout? But we were designing so many styles and colourways at Pony and in such a short time, that our heads were spinning and there was no time to experiment with different variants and samples.
Pony had just been bough by GBMI and we had little to no performance footwear foundations to build on either, which is probably why the performance shoe designs ended up looking amateurish, despite that this new technology was very interesting and innovative.
Much later in 2008 Nike officially introduced Dymanic Flywire and I believe that they also able patented it. As you would expect, Nike did a much better job and cables are still being used successfully by them to this day, 16 years later.
I think it works particularly well on the Nike Winflo 5 from 2018.
A.I. can be useful to create conceptual pastiches, like making a shoe look like a bean bag.
However getting A.I to quickly figure out design details, especially in complex designs like mass market footwear seems still to be quite challenging and time consuming, more so if the details are unusual, or less likely to have already been published on the internet. On top of which, patching and editing the glitches can can block creative/artistic flow for anyone wanting to dive deep towards a creative goal.
Moreover I’m not sure A.I can understand a shoe as well as a skilled designer, which is very important for creative problem solving. Using A.I quickly in a fast paced environment seems to create variants with a meaningless, jumble of disconnected shapes and lines.
However that abstraction can also be useful in the early creative process to provoke and create the seeds of new meaning and aesthetic. And while for some such provocative abstraction/chaos can also feel satisfying and meaningful to apply in its entirety as a challenging statement to a final design, in the long term we may just be adding aesthetic noise to an already noisy world?
I can see how used abstractly, A.I can be used in the early stages of the design process to stir-up, unbridle, kickstart and loosen up abstract thinking flow. Especially when on the day you don’t have a clear goal in mind. And at the very least it can suggest some interesting lines.
If you can imagine a fast passing game like a Barcelona “Tiki-Taka”, except instead of passing a design between different designers, you can pass it to the A.I and back…and to continue the gamification analogy, until you can see the goal to score.
Fast Paced Project Control in Tight Spaces
For example by entering a much simpler sketch like this, so A.I can quickly pass you one, or more slightly different versions back, for you to contemplate, adjust and build upon. Every time creating new visual cues to help you improve and adjust the upper and sole design from some loose penned concept lines.
While this creative method is aesthetic and without functional goals, its abstract nature can lead to lucky discoveries of new ideas and iterations in a fairly short timeframe. Not to mention a higher rendering quality for those that need it.
Continue ReadingIf art in the early 1900’s become abstract because of the photography, then can a similar split happen with product and design because of A.I (or digital technology)? And did another split also happen to music with digital technology and computers, but without the same reinvention of analog music? Or is it still too early to tell?
So how will analogue design rooted in a hands on approach and sketching reinvent itself after A.I, in the way art did 100 years ago, after photography?
Will some people continue to design, or buy hand crafted/analog footwear and others the vision and complexity of more digital A.I footwear designs?
Will A.I continue in the direction of abstract art, intensifying design aesthetic expression, while Human’s focus on more classic, crafted design, which is also rooted in a more physical interaction, familiarity and community?
How important will the role of community become in the future, especially regarding product and design?
Taking a step back, consider how much of art today is abstract compared to realistic, and what a tiny percentage of people enjoy classical art enough to learn, or buy it. The same is probably also true about footwear when you compare maximally sculptural and colourful running shoes compared to leather oxfords, Mexican Huaraches, Native American moccasins or medieval turn shoes. With the exception of some old footwear styles that are abstracted and remixed with modern components such as sporty and soft running soles that are easier to relate to and more comfortable to wear.
By Alexey Kondakov
Cross-overs provide more easily recognisable abstractions between old and new in product/footwear design, art and music that have also proved popular, especially when you consider the pervasiveness of the remix. Although in some cases the cross-over, mashup recipes seem dated, cross-overs also align well with how A.I merges images from different sources. So its likely that cross-over will continue for some time. Adding strong recognisable cues can also make the new design appear more familiar and relevant. I call this “Piggybacking the Icons”.
With increasingly abstract design tastes, maybe traditional hand crafted/analog footwear can also reinvent itself (as it did at Nike in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and 15 years later), or evolve, if in it’s remixed, cross-over abstractions it includes any deep rooted cultural features, or associations that A.I cannot so easily understand, or replace and compete with. Non aesthetic ingredients, such as community, hand made and nature for example.
Continue ReadingAs a footwear designer I’m also interested in working to a holistic Design philosophy that includes other fundamental design deliverables such as positive social engineering and environmental compatibility. And one of my professional goals is to become more conscious and aware.
My awareness has lead me to believe that we all need to change the way we see design and products as just things that exist to benefit us in the short term as consumers, and that designers can play a key role in encouraging positive social change by making thoughtful choices.
“Design creates culture – Culture shapes values – Values shape the Future.” Robert L. Peters
We often ignore that all the products we use also exist in an equally important past and a future without us. They are created through great efforts by someone else and by relocating and processing natural resources somewhere in the world affecting other people and ecosystems. And their end life also can impact other people and ecosystems of which we usually have little interest in. But just as we have learned to not objectify other people and nature for our temporary benefit, as paradoxical as it sounds we should also learn not objectify products either.
To my surprise it’s almost 10 years ago today that I wrote a post about The “Objectification of Product and it’s Social, Environmental Threats“. I believe that perceiving anything just as an object for our personal use, with no interest in their other qualities/factors that don’t benefit us is short sighted, superficial and in the long term detrimental to our social and environmental health.
I was recently very lucky to design a wonderful example of footwear, created with such positive, past, present and future qualities/factors in mind.
Although at first glance the Wildling Lotus Design has one the easiest and simplest aesthetics and constructions, as a footwear solution its purpose is not just to look new, but to be more meaningful, not just easier to make, or friendlier to nature, but also rooted in family and community.
Functionally the barefoot shoe last will offer the healthiest fit, and the 100% wool upper (which is increasingly rare in footwear) is naturally thermoregulating. The felt is naturally moulded by washing and drying without the use of glued internal reinforcements, no thermoforming plastic fibres are added either and the lanolin in the wool will naturally soften your skin. But both the end product and design were intended to be even more meaningful and holistic than the now mandatory aesthetic, function and eco-friendliness deliverables.
For example a product and design thinking should not just be about how a design used and the customer who uses it, but also about who makes it and how it’s made, and who disposes it and how it’s disposed, re-used, or recycled. The Sustainability in Circularity is not just about the product, but also all who share and are affected by it, all the people and the community that is involved and of course in a few cases animals too.
For example before the Wildling Lotus is used, the wool is sheared from German sheep that are used for land conservation instead of milk, or meat. And in this post I would also like to share the unique way and environment where the Wildling Lotus is made which is equally fascinating.
Unlike traditional design posts, instead of development sketches and inspiration, here I would like to share some images of the production which make the Wildling Lotus so special.
These photos are from a recent development trip to the 101 year old factory where the Wildling Lotus is made, in the middle of Finland, surrounded by a dizzying ocean of rippling green as far as the eye can see.
Naturally the original factory building is no longer in use, but its moving to see the that it’s still preserved and cared for. It’s such a rare and touching thing to feel connected to history through your work.
There are probably less than a handful of Felt Moulding Footwear Factories left in Europe and I feel very lucky to have worked with one of them. Also because its possible to create such minimal footwear out of wool that is so eco-friendly.
The shape of these old traditional boot lasts is also very interesting, because they are so old and yet so anatomical.
As Industry and Industrial processes progress and modernise and in an increasingly technocentric culture, is there a risk that some of the old wisdoms can also be lost and forgotten? Healthy, Natural materials, shoe last shapes, or even working conditions? And what role does a designer play in maintaining, or creating new wisdoms?
It sounds almost magical and utopian, barefoot footwear made from 100% wool felt in a factory, on a farm, in a forest, in Finland. A small farm in the summer and a factory during the frozen Finnish winter. The uniqueness of a shoe born in such a special environment, conditions and materials.
Please click on the link below for more photos and to
Continue Reading
Like all the natural world People are always signalling to be more attractive, or assertive and the social role which they have, or aspire to in society, both formally and informally.
Signalling with their expressions, eye contact, or tone of voice. Even that scrunched up face when smoking a cigarette between index and thumb.
Signalling with their choice of clothes, make up and hairstyle.
Signalling through the products they buy, brand stickers, or tattoos they apply.
Signalling through the photos, posts and comments they publish on social media.
Not to mention signalling with online design portfolios and blogs 😉
To communicate that we are wealthier, healthier, progressive, knowledgable, ethical, moral, or rebellious. Whether we are, or we’re not. Of course not everything is a signal and not every signal reflects exactly what we think it will.
The question is what is generally speaking any consumer group signalling by using your product? And should your next design amplify the signal, or not? When is a product too loud; too rich, healthy, progressive, ethical, or rebellious, or not loud enough?
Could your new design be signalling something different from what your core customers would like to signal?
Has signalling in our culture increased because of social media? What is each of us signalling and what do we prefer to signal more?
With “Virtue Signalling” being a recently frowned upon, or being more discreet by using unbranded “Quiet Luxury” goods. Could signalling be increasing to a level of saturation when it becomes unpopular, and do/will some people prefer not to signal?
If so, can “any” product be designed to be non signalling without being boring, or irrelevant? Or only the most authentic and utilitarian ones, when used in their intended way/context?
For another riff abut signalling check out a previous post here : https://74fdc.wordpress.com/2017/02/20/the-canvas-analogy-of-personal-expression/
P.S. There was a time, before the Romantic movement when when signalling was unpopular, especially in more affluent levels of society where dissimulation was preferred. Are we culturally reaching a point of signalling saturation, or maybe just the simulation side of signalling?
A purist approach, Visual Hierarchy is an interesting principle of selecting some elements on a design in order of importance to maximise its visual quality.
It helps to develop a design logic and define and focus on perfecting key elements to ensure that a product is not only visually balanced and draws your attention, but also creates a sequence to which the design can reveal and expresses itself in the most logical (although maybe not always the best) way the longer you look at it.
In car design Visual Hierarchy is divided into 1st, 2nd and 3rd “Reads”. They are the 3 main areas of a car that should capture your interest, or curiosity first, but they also make up what should be the best visual expression of the car and its character.
Image Via Why Modern Car Designs Are So Visually Complex | Q&A w/ Pro Designer
For Footwear Design the rule for Visual Hierarchy is also a design logic, but a bit different and maybe more commercially motivated. I would say that its more immersive, but it also complements well the “3 Reads” theory for Car Design.
Continue ReadingBased off the 5 Levels of Creativity in Design, from A Transactional Approach to Creativity and its Implications for Education by Irving A. Taylor HERE.
I have been thinking for a while that a pyramid is an interesting way to show these levels. To help visualise and define what height you would like to aim for and in some sense also the level of difficulty and risk you face. Traditionally the further up you go, the fewer designs have been created, but could it also due to a not well enough defined goal, an unvisualised approach and lack of planning?
74 FOOTWEAR DESIGN CONSULTING 