I'm new to footwear Part Two - Researching. How can I help you, the designer to research for a new shoe project?

If you are new to footwear product development and you haven't employed any design help before, it can be tricky to know what information a designer might need.

So I thought I'd share the research stage, what it involves and how to help your designer.

If you can present me with some of your own research, it gives me a basis for my own research. Perhaps start a secret pinterest folder? What to put in there? If the product category exists, when you begin, you could put in photos of rival companies product. This helps me in two ways. I can see not only the aesthetics of the product, I can also look at the price and see where a product is made. This can help us formulate our own brief and also help us when we speak to manufacturers. We can critique it thoroughly. Below, a screenshot from my own pinterest account which can be found here: https://uk.pinterest.com/shoedesigner/

The board below is a development ideas board developed with help from a client.  When you collect ideas for your pinterest board, look at the materials you want to use, logos you like, brands that you identify with,  colours you love and don't forget to talk about the NOPES, what you don't want to see, that's important too. We can then meet either in person or online and discuss our shared research. 

This discussion about the direction we wish to take will form the basis for the ideation sketches stage of the project. 

And don't forget to include any inspiration at all you think might help me to help you. Especially for creative design, if I'm creating a brand for you, then I want to inject your personality and your taste into it. For instance, a client told me how much they loved the architect Frank Gehry. I researched both his architecture then his jewellery.  From this I developed the mood board for the collection and the resulting research inspired me to create the theme for the collection. Here is the board.

And don't be ashamed to send me your own design scribbles. it's my job to work your ideas into something that can be made, this is my skill, please don't discount your own ideas because you aren't a fantastic artist. I still want to see your ideas.  I have worked with professional designers who aren't fantastic artists either, but they still managed to create shoes that sold millions of pairs. I am interested in your ideas and how we can make them into shoes that people want to buy. That is all! 

So where the blimmin' heck have we been?

One thing I've been told about social media and websites is that it's a game of keepy uppy. Well, you may have noticed that we dropped the ball and I guess some of you are wondering what happened to that shoedesigner that lives on a boat and blogs about the footwear business.

Well, I'm alive! I'm here and I'm finally trying to catch up after a crazy 2013 and an even busier spring and summer in 2014

So how have we been?

We've had our busiest two years in business to date - we've been full to capacity since July 2013 and since then we have been concentrating on serving our existing client base. We've been doing a little bit of consulting for the British Footwear Association too. We've done the odd days consultancy here and there for fledgling footwear companies, we've been to Micam and Pure several times and to Italy to work with factories.

We've also spent spring and summer of this year helping a relative who had a bad accident to find a retirement home and help them to move in and organise their affairs.

I am finally coming up for air, so it's time to start the engine on this blog again. I've a whole list of subjects to write about, thanks to you, my readers, who email me asknig for advice and my opinion on things. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have such interesting questions to answer and then blog about, so thank you all.

Totally Mental Modular Shoe Design.

Ok, call off the dogs. Forget flip flops with changeable uppers, forget removeable heels, don't bother with foldable ballet slippers.

Designer Sharon Golan pwns all of you with her modular shoe design. Only 256 combinations to work on. Plus an instruction book and a DVD to figure it all out.

What is it with Israeli shoe designers anyway? First Kobi Levi and now Sharon. Brilliant!

Source: Reuters

Sneaker Design Courses?

I do occasionally get asked about these but they tend to be thin on the ground. Sneaker designers tend to come from an ID background, which means they are as likely to be able to design phones, but that also means that they may not understand much about footwear construction.

Students on footwear courses have to learn pattern cutting and making, but their courses tend to focus on traditional footwear and may only briefly touch on sneaker design.

So I was interested to hear that Parsons School of Design has introduced the Pensole Program - a four week course specifically in sneaker design and tutored by a Nike designer.

The great thing about this course is that in order to get a place you are judged on your talents as a shoe designer and not on the traditional qualifications.

I hope we will see some exciting new talent and some amazing new shoe designers emerging from this innovative program.

You may not be able to view this link as it requires a subscription to the USA magazine Footwear News, but you can always message me if you want to know more.

Picture courtesy of Footwear News

http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/pensole-program-debuts-at-parsons-3620160?src=nl/FN/20110523

Shoe Designer Zuzana Serbak

I just discovered another amazing conceptual shoe designer, who works with materials such as Silicone and Carbon Fibre. Amazing shoes!

Zuzana studied in Prague and focused on making shoes with materials that one would not normally associate with dress shoes. She is currently in the luxury sector, but she is also available for freelance and she hopes to set up her own brand one day. If you are reading this, Zuzana, please, please do - your shoes deserve a wider audience!

You can read more about Zuzana (and also contact her) via her blog. http://zuzanaserbak.blogspot.com/

Design Shoes - fab flash game

This just popped into my inbox and it's good fun, from the fab games for girls website. Ok, you can't actually 'design' as such, but you can colour shoes in, in absolutely hideous garish tartans or over the top animal print. Give it a go! I think perhaps this might be a fantastic timewaster for any of you working an office.

Link to play http://www.hotgamesforgirls.com/exclusive-shoes-design.html

Fantastic new Australian bespoke shoes company

Shoes of Prey are based in Sydney, Australia and make semi bespoke shoes to order. You can choose the materials, toe shape, heel, heel height and more.

The 'shoe designer' designing program on their site is absolutely brilliant - I'd say it is also a great resource for anyone wanting to be a shoe designer as the designs are so well drawn and in proportion and you can play with the different materials and heels to see how they look.

Go here to find out more: http://www.shoesofprey.com/

thanks to the blog http://www.lostateminor.com/ for drawing my attention to this great company!

More Andreia Chaves courtesy of Yatzer

Had to post some more of this girls shoe design work, can't get enough of it. From Yatzer

You ain't seen me, right? The Invisible Shoe

I love this concept by Andreia Chaves, shoe designer of Brazil. By creating a mirrored wedge shoe, your foot blends into it's environment.
Andreia is just about the most out-there shoe designer I have seen in a long long time. She says, "The fact that I grew up in a chaotic city like Sao Paulo, full of contrasts, being in contact with such diversity and constant exposure to different visual inputs, has inspired me in how I think and conceptualize my shoes. Looking at my work, I can clearly see influence coming from my South American sense of versatility. Also in the mix - what I have been experiencing in Europe."

From Yatzer

Newspaper shoes

From http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120600251

I love these shoes, made from newspaper strips coated in plastic then hand woven. They look fab - well done to the designer Colin Lin!

Balenciaga: my favourite SS2010 catwalk collection

The runway shows are over for another season and I've had time to digest what I've seen.

Alexander McQueen was an eye opener, lots of us shoe designers loved his shoes, but for me, Balenciaga was the winner this season. To be fair, I think, trend-wise it's not such a huge leap from the monochrome gladiators of last summer, but I'm in love with these designs. I've always fancied myself as a bit of a hippy, so the details on these shoes really do appeal. There seem to be tribal elements there, the most frustrating thing when I see shoes like these is that I can't get up close and touch them and examine them to see how they are made. They are so fantastic I doubt whether we'll see them in any stores.

I can dream, can't I? Especially about walking in them. The last pair of Balenciagas I fell in love with and bought, I managed one step forward after standing up and fell flat on my face - I've since admitted defeat - high heels and me, we're not friends. :( Which is shame because I'd love us to be mates.

Insa Heels

I've just had my attention drawn to Insa Heels, a London brand which puts out limited editions of it's designs, which are a collaboration between Designer Ruth Shaw and artist Insa. I used to work for the same company as Ruth, I'm not surprised she did her own brand, she is an amazing designer. I love the upper print and I especially love the kit, lovely tall slim heel and platform, very balanced.

Link http://www.insa-heels.com/content.php?gallery

Manolo throws a hissy fit.

From Digital Spy: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a176272/blahnik-sick-of-sex-and-the-city-link.html

Manolo isn't happy about his SATC associations. Perhaps the ladies who lunch, of Manhattan, who buy his shoes, aren't happy about it either.

I have to say, I'm definately NOT a SATC fan, I'm with you on this one. But, Manolo, did you know, when you do a Google image search for your name, THIS image comes up. Sorry, mate. :(

:( :( :(

Shoe designer accused of using company time and equipment to design for rivals

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/08/columbia_sportswear_takes_desi.html

Now this is worrying, but I have to say, it sounds to me like he asked for trouble! As a freelancer I become more and more aware of how important confidentiality and contract can be.

The article says, 'an ethics code bans employees from competing with Columbia', well, HELL YEAH! Isn't it a bit disrespectful to work for direct competitors? I know that and do occasionally turn work down, because I feel that there is a conflict of interest there. In fact should you get pigeon holed as a freelancer, this can become a big issue as it will limit the amount of work you can take on. SO, my advice is, don't get pigeon holed! If I have a kids footwear contract, I won't work on another kids footwear contract that season, unless it is for a drastically different company.

You also have to consider that if you work for two rival companies, you could quite easily be accused of copying the other companies ideas, even if you didn't because if the brief is similar, the designs you come up with could be similar, without you even intending it. I wonder if this is what happened with the designer in this case? Perhaps he didn't intend to use ideas he had developed for Columbia, perhaps it just looked that way.

Any designers reading this would probably agree with me, that especially with fashion, it's quite possible to all come up with the same idea at the same time with absolutely no knowledge of what the other designer is doing. That's how fashion works. If I go into a charity shop and see a vintage pair of shoes that I'd have balked at a year ago and suddenly they just look spot on, invariably it means that it a trend that is developing.

There was a discussion about this on ID forum Core 77 last week, it's called Ideas are Like Waves http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=19704

When I worked as a designer at Pentland Group we had clauses in our contract and freelance work was forbidden. Whilst I was there a designer (not a footwear designer, but a graphic designer) was sacked for moonlighting. I guess they were lucky they didn't get taken to court like this guy.

Fact is, if you are an employee, you are being heavily invested in by your employer. They not only pay your salary, your health insurance and your pension and all your expenses and buy your equipment, but they own your ideas that you create there and they rely on you to be able to keep a secret!

If you can't handle this and you are bored of the same brand day-in-day out, then you better go freelance, but you better be able to keep a secret as a freelance shoe designer, or word will soon get around that you cannot be trusted!

If you want to be an employee, then some companies (I'm thinking of Nike) will let you freelance for other companies, but does that includes direct competitors? Hmm I wonder.