The academic year started on the 28th of September 2020 and we were quickly introduced to the ‘Black Boot’ project which turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences of the year. On the topic of how the second year had started, the trend project had also started around November time to be finished by mid-January. Around the same time that the ‘Style Prediction’ assignment had been set, I had begun production of the black boot by developing the patterns and cutting out the components and, also in the first half of this month, I was all finished with writing the project proposal for the FMP. Having to do the great amount of research for the writing piece was quite the challenge because I had to cover many details around the youth’s perception of classic footwear styles, what brands they take interest in and other related aspects. The Christmas holiday had started halfway through December and was only supposed to last until the 4th of January but working from home had continued until the second week of march- much longer than expected. Since I was still at home at this time, the trend project was finished and turned in all from the comfort of my bedroom which definitely felt a bit strange but that’s just one of the strange results of the pandemic.
Of course, it’s a whole lot easier to get distracted when you’re sitting at your bedroom desk but working from home wasn’t actually all that terrible. In fact, while schools were shut, I managed to design all the shoes for the FMP from paper drawings, the outlines on Illustrator and the materials and colours on Photoshop and I would even design sneakers in my spare time, including the ‘New Balance 1070’ concept which can be found on my Instagram page. The six and a half pages of P.E.S.T.L.E analysis, the research on six different brands, creation of the customer profile board and Unique Selling Points page were also carried out during my time at home.
Some of my favourite achievements throughout the second year are the ‘Black Boot’ project, learning how to use Autodesk and Keyshot, creating the FMP shoes in the workshop and also the New Balance project at DMU. I found the black boot project really enjoyable because it was the first time I had made a boot and I was even happier that the boot actually turned out like my drawings. I’ve always wanted to use a software on which you can develop 3D shoe designs and then render the shapes and components out to create a realistic-looking shoe so being able to explore Autodesk and Keyshot, and ultimately make a manual on how to use the two programs, was also a great learning experience for me.
Another favourite achievement from this year was being able to create two shoes for the FMP that look just like my sketches. From planning out what I would put in the sketchbook to brushing neoprene off the suede upper, the entire project was great fun to work on.
The New Balance project from DMU was one of the assignments that really showed me what work within the footwear industry is like. Since the brand is one of my favourites, I knew that I would enjoy the project as soon as it was offered as an option for the PPD work placement.
What is it like to write on the blog? Although writing anything can take a good amount of time, thinking of a catchy title and opening line is a very fun thing to do and necessary to draw in the attention of readers. The layout of the blog website is also a thing to be considered as it has to be able to represent creativity and professionalism, so I keep a consistent theme of having lots of footwear imagery and classic serif fonts.
Some of my favourite blogs to write were: ‘An Unmissable Read: Collab Sneaker X Culture by Elizabeth Semmelhack’, ‘The Results Are In!’ and ‘How to Design for Instagram’. The book review is the first that I have ever written, and with the book being a great read, it made for a fun blog post to write that I would seriously recommend reading. My second favourite here was about introducing the FMP and also showing the results for a poll I had put up to allow my Instagram followers to share their opinions on the ten final designs. It was also very fun to create the cover photo for the blog photo as it shows what it was like to design the shoes from the project. The ‘How to Design for Instagram’ blog post was also enjoyable to write as it’s something I would have read myself back when I was exploring how photoshop and illustrator could be used for digital footwear production and I hope it can be to some use for at least one reader.
All in all, putting my experiences from the course into blog entries has been more beneficial for my development more than I had expected when it all started as it allows me to see what readers enjoy the most, and it generally allows me to remind myself where I have progressed and it also shows me which skills I should focus on developing. It’s essentially a studious way to be self-critical while making sure I actually can improve upon the abilities.
Thank you very much for reading the blog and please feel free to leave any comments and feedback for me to read!
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