REACH
NEW
HEIGHTS.

BRIEF

PROJECT

Design a shoe intended for a specific type of activewear. The concept should draw inspiration from the existing market and feasibly support the selected activity.

STATEMENT

PROBLEM

Many hikers invest in poor footwear or are unhappy with the look of top-market items. Without proper gear, individuals are more likely to sustain injury or experience discomfort during a hike. To encourage investment in proper equipment, the product should mimic street shoes while supporting the user’s foot for lasting comfort and safety.

EARLY

IDEATION

Early on, I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to pursue. As an adventurous person, I knew I wanted to design a shoe that would take me places. Unfortunately, many top hiking shoes have little to be desired as far as looks go.

I played with elements popular in daily footwear and tried to incorporate organic or nature-inspired patterns. Since these are for trails, the shoes should not be too flashy, as they are bound to get dirty and potentially detract from the surroundings.

For support, I ended up switching to an ankle-high boot.

By the time I experimented physically, I was still working with broad concepts, so I played with design elements to see how they would sit on a real model. Materials and color were not experimented physically, so I could focus solely on visual structure.

In my sole explorations, I knew I wanted to create a faux heel to visually lift and accentuate the boot. In a working model, the inside would be flat aside from arch support to offer more stability, safety, and comfort for the user. Combining concepts that worked well together, I sketched out a more detailed design and selected a muted forest color palette to work with.

PHOTOSHOP

For this project, I explored the vast possibilities Photoshop had to offer to bring the final concept to life.

I mashed my final sole concept with an upper that most closely resembled my end goal. From there, I altered the shape to better represent a boot and pieced together where different leather sections would lay.

The rest would involve detail work to create depth, texture, stitching and lighting that would closely resemble a real boot.