Concept Shoe

This is a sneaker I designed intended for streetwear, inspired by snowboard bindings.

I like the futuristic exoskeleton look of modern snowboard bindings, and wanted to design a fashionable sneaker taking visual and functional inspiration from the bindings. The large straps serve as an alternative to velcro or shoelaces, with adjustable tightness. The shape of the blue piece connected to the straps is very similar to the bindings and provides ankle support.

These early concept sketches were done using Procreate on an iPad

To explore the design further, I used AI - Midjourney (2024 - it’s changed a lot since).

My design is admittedly clunky and heavy to wear, and I am still understanding the nuances of structuring a shoe build.

I played around with it in AI, to see how I could add more traction and padding at the bottom, and make the back of the shoe more comfortable. The results are not accurate or great, but I enjoyed the process of exploration and inspiration it gave me.
Also the challenge was to ensure it was done in my illustration style ~ It’s more refined and detailed than I can currently render!

Below are also some material and color exploration of the shoe design, to understand how AI would assist in product design.

I am being open minded to partnering with AI.