SOPHOMORE YEAR FOOTWEAR PROJECT AT ASU
DESIGN BREIF
To design a cleat the embodies the athletes passion and love for the game of ultimate frisbee.
BACKGROUND
The Half Light 630 is a 6 week project with the goal of designing footwear quickly and effectively for a specific sport. After some light research, I found that ultimate frisbee, a very popular sport among college students, is often overlooked and lacks specific footwear in the market. This offered a great opportunity to design something that is obscure and unique, since most ultimate players tend to use cleats intended for American football or soccer.
VIDEO
For Half Light 630, making a video was a main priority of mine, where I can show my creative process over the 5 week progress in a fun and creative manner.
SKETCHES
For ideation, I began by familiarizing myself with all types of footwear sold in the industry. Since this was before a sport was selected, there is no particular brand, style, or type of shoe that studied in great detail. Once the sport was selected, ultimate frisbee, I then began sketching cleats. Three cleats were designed, each representing an important element to the game of ultimate frisbee. These were: fluidity, speed, and sharpness.
CONCEPTS
In the final stages of Le Strade, I ended up going with 2 designs that best fit within Piloti's brand image. Once selected, I further developed these designs and illustrated more detail and views. In exploring these final concepts, and discussing with both peers and faculty at my school, it was clear which solution I should move forward with.
MODELS
In the process of making the Half Light 630, models were needed to investigate these forms in a physical setting. Due to the pandemic and a small budget, the materials used to produce these models were limited to those readily available in my apartment. Which were: paper, foam, dental floss, and socks.
With all of the models complete, I was finally able to move forwards with the final design. In Photoshop, I uploaded a medial view of the fluidity model and heavily altered its appearance. The final product offers breathable fabric and a BOA system for ease of use. The colorway inspiration is of a sunset, which is represented in the name of the product: Half Light is another word for sunset, and 6:30 is the average time for sunsets across the world.