My 5th Capstone Blog Post. After this one I’ll only have 2 blog posts left. Everything was happening sooooo fast. Soon I’ll be leaving Heathcote, going to the Scarsdale Middle School. Tears are coming to my eyes now…Just Kidding. I don’t write boohoo-ey blog posts, I write funny, humorous ones.

Anyway, when I realized that we had to write a full blown essay on answering my main inquiry question, I was on the verge of freaking out. I realized this with 3 days until I had to answer my MIQ and all my sub-questions. I mean, I’m known for cutting things really close like when I have a whole math packet due on Friday and I do all of it on Thursday at 11:00 P:M or when I get into my suit in the car before my uncle’s wedding, but this, this was almost too close, and that’s saying a lot.

Another bad thing about answering my sub-questions was most of them were a kind-of, which means that I kind-of know how to write about it. So I doubled the Capstone work I usually do in one day and expanded how much could fit in my head, so much that I thought I looked like one of those balloon-head aliens. I was in big trouble and this was one situation that I could not escape from. I don’t even think the great Harry Houdini could escape this one.

I somehow answered all of my sub-q’s in one night, but in the morning I looked like a zombie. I was proud of my zombie-self, but clearly my mom wasn’t. “Get up, Michael! You’re going to be late for school!” People these days, they don’t appreciate me sacrificing my rest-time for school work.

Back to the sub-question answers, I wrote a lot for a few and sometimes a little for a few. Overall, I thought I wrote pretty detailed answers with examples and other things teachers always force you to use n your writing. My questions and answers are down below:

Q: How do the sneaker designers come up with new sneaker designs?

A: Usually inspirations from things around the sneaker designer or new trends. Also, sometimes sneaker designers visit other countries to do some research. Some cool inspirations are the Nike Waffle Racer. It was inspired by someone’s old waffle machine. Also, the Nike Air Max 1 was inspired by the Centre Georges Pompidou. Sneaker designers might go to Sweden to see what kind of trends are going on, then they would design a shoe based on that trend, then after it got approved, they would sell it all over the world. People in America might get bored of sneakers based on the same trend so when a new trend from a foreign country might appeal to the consumers as “new” or “different”. It also works the other way around. After the shoe company sells the Sweden trend-based shoe globally, consumers in Sweden would enjoy the shoes because the shoe would go with whatever trend was going on in Sweden. Another way to come up with new sneaker designs is to brainstorm. Nike mostly brainstorms ideas with a variety of designers, then the actual shoe designers would get to work. Also, the designer could just randomly draw designs and give a ton of ideas to the person who approves of the design.

Q: Do companies use ideas from old sneakers to make new ones and how?

A: Yes, old ideas from sneakers can be incorporated in new ones. Let’s say Nike was working on a Brand New Air Jordan shoe, it might use old technology from other Nike shoes. Maybe the same fabric. The Air Jordan 1 used technology from the Nike Air Max shoe. Nike’s tech “AIR” is in many famous shoes for example the Lebron 9 uses the “AIR” technology. Obviously, all the Nike Air Max shoes use the same technology as the Lebrons. Also, there are tons of sneakers that use the “flyknit” technology. Also, many adidas sneakers and apparel uses the primeknit technology fabric.

Q: If a celebrity  is consulted to design branded sneakers, how much input does the celebrity have in designing the sneakers?

A: The celebrity helps with the design and they can approve it. The celebrity has to sign a contract for their branded shoes. The company and the celebrity have to mutually approve the shoe. Although, the final, final approval has to come from the company. This information was given by my mother who works on these types of contracts. Also, sometimes average athletes test the shoes then give feedback. For athletes, in the contract, they have to wear it publically during their games.

 

Q: After the design, what do the companies do to test their new product?

A: Most companies call hundreds of runners to test their shoes. They run in them for a month and at the end of that month they give a lot of feedback on comfort, fit, durability, flexibility, etc. After that, they give it to scientists to undergo tests. Finally, they would write detailed information on the shoe. New Balance calls up runners to try out their shoes and run in them. There are cameras where the runner would be running and would take pictures and videos of the shoe. They use special fabric with black specks and the camera could track the black specks and see how much the specks stretch. That shows how flexible the shoe is. The runner would give feedback and the designers would take it in again to make some changes. They go through three rounds of revising the shoe before they even think about sending it out to the factory to make thousands of copies. Nike let’s anybody test their shoes after they apply for it with a username and password. So they need a Nike account. Then they want feedback. Almost all the big shoe companies want detailed feedback so they could make their products better.

Q: If a sneaker manufacturer creates a new sneaker design, how does that affect the sneakers produced by other manufacturers?

A: It does affect other sneakers produced. For example, when Nike came out with its new flyknit technology, adidas tried to bounce back with Primeknit technology. Every shoe company competes against each other. Adidas was falling behind on basketball sneakers because of Nike with Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Air Jordan, etc. and Under Armour with the best player in the league, Stephen Curry, so Adidas signed James Harden, one of the best basketball players in the business. Also, if let’s say, adidas releases many low tops, maybe Nike will to the exact same thing, only better, to get more sales. The goal for every business, no matter what they say is to get the most sales.

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For some weird reason, answering my MIQ was easier than answering my Sub-Q’s. Trust me, I do not have a clue why.

My interview with Senior New Balance Designer Andrew Nyssen and my site visit at the New Balance Factory helped me answer my MIQ. Also, this website, Illumin, helped me as well. Those 3 things helped me the most. My answer is down below:

 

Shoe design is a complex process that involves the collaboration of a variety of individuals, including runners, craftsmen, technicians, scientists, and doctors. This article will focus on the complicated efforts that stand behind a relatively simple piece of athletic equipment: the running shoe. From Illumin Magazine, article “The Engineering Behind Shoe Design”.

There are many factors that go into designing sneakers like technology, refining, lasting, how much durability, how much comfort, how much support, trends, drawing, research, travel, etc. Some of those factors will be explained with a little more detail down below.

My main inquiry question is, “What factors go into designing a sneaker?”

When a shoe designer wants to design a new shoe, they have to design a shoe that will do well in the market because they’re up against other big companies like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, New Balance, Vans, etc. unless, of course, they work for one of those big companies.

First, the designer has to draw the shoe. They sometimes use an application to draw such as Sketchbook Pro. If you want to become a sneaker designer, you have to be pretty good at drawing.

 

Then he/she prints it out in an almost U-shape. Next, they wrap it around a shoe last. A shoe last is in the shape of a shoe, and could be made out of starch, or something like starch. You could see how the U-Shaped 2D figure would fit around the shoe. When the sneaker is done, you could kind of see the seam where the figure ends met.

Now the shoe is in a 3D shape. He/she then 3D prints out the shoe with a 3D printer. Now it is a prototype. The next steps to design a shoe is shown below.

Also, a shoe needs to have the right technology for whatever purpose the shoe is meant for. That’s usually the scientists’ job. Also, sometimes normal athletes,(I mean normal as in not like a Kevin Durant or something) sometimes test the same prototype shoe, but with different technology. For example, if a company wants to come out with a shoe that weighs less, so it would be better for runners, they would use something like Nike’s flyknit technology. Also, when adidas came out with the Adidas Boost, they used different technology. Most shoes used EVA midsoles, but adidas instead used thousands of small pebbles of TPU, which is thermoplastic polyurethane. Thermoplastic polyurethane is made up of many polyurethane plastics with many qualities. Now the shoe midsole would last longer because of that brand new technology. There’s been many improvements to shoe technology, and there will still be many more. Maybe in a decade or so, all this “new” technology will be considered “old” technology. It’s really amazing how something like shoe technology is adapting and evolving all the time.

After the technology is sorted out, the shoe designers have to examine their shoe and refine some things. They could take masking tape and use a Sharpie to change things. For example, they could change where the breathing holes are. A breathing hole is those holes where you could kind of see your sock. Or, there may be no breathing holes and they want to add breathings holes or vice versa. Also, they could change what the design around the shoe is like.

 

Some extras that sometimes happen when designing a sneaker, is if let’s say you’re a Nike designer, and you’re designing a branded sneaker for an athlete, you have to listen to the athlete’s ideas, they have to approve it as well as the company that you are working for. It takes a longer time to design a branded sneaker than a regular sneaker.

 

In conclusion, sneaker design is a tough, complex process, but when the shoe is finished, all the hard work going into manufacturing the shoe pays off. It’s amazing how so much work goes into designing something that is so part of our daily life, the shoe.

 

 

 

 

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Since me cutting it really close really worked out for me, I might do it again. That may not please my teacher and my parents, but this project is all about the kid managing his/her time. For once, I get to make the rules. The teachers and the parents are just the helpers that occasionally gives an idea.  No more eat your vegetables before your dessert. Maybe not yet, but I can feel that one day kids will protest being bossed around by the adults. Kids will soon have the same rights as adults. (I’m actually rethinking that because that will happen when I’m an adult, and I do not want that.)

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‘Til next time.