{"id":394778,"date":"2014-07-24T10:35:28","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T15:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/?p=394778"},"modified":"2022-09-16T22:32:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T03:32:21","slug":"pensole-world-sneaker-championship-diaries-day-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snkrsday.com\/pensole-world-sneaker-championship-diaries-day-3\/","title":{"rendered":"PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship Diaries: Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
This summer, 30 young students from all the around the world have come together in Portland, Oregon, determined to change the footwear game by embarking in the PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship. Assigned to teams and representing a diverse range of brands, boutiques and major corporations across the industry, they’ve began their journey to design a product that’s ready for retail. These are their stories.<\/em><\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Elizabeth Steenwyk, Maher Jemili, Guy Perez and Tuan Nguyen (CMF)<\/p>\n Voices are bouncing ideas off other voices and it makes for a nice hum in the studio at the end of the day. Every group has been working through their design briefs, starting this morning with three possible directions and solidifying one of them thanks to input from D\u2019Wayne and Suzette. It always amazes me to see how much ideas improve once they are subjected to diverse views and that definitely happened today. So often people are afraid to share ideas but, when shared, they improve by leaps and bounds.<\/p>\n A simple, but powerful, reminder.\n Maher, Guy, Suzette and Tuan discuss story as we settle on our directions.\n Collaboration between groups is happening, too! This is especially important later when a fresh perspective is just what the design needs.\n <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Sara Jaramillo, Quetzal Ramos, Victoria Adesanmi, and Tuan Nguyen (CMF)<\/p>\n Today, we focused on the principle of Product Story Telling. As we move forward to prepare our design briefs, we must first understand the notion that great products tell a story to engage their customer. Listening to D\u2019Wayne share the importance of branding and knowing your customer was insightful in preparation of creating my consumer profile. What is their age? What is their occupation? Where do they live?<\/em> It is imperative that we thoroughly answer these questions to design a product to create an emotional connection with our consumer.<\/p>\n Sara and Victoria discussing their consumer profile with D\u2019Wayne\n <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Zia Ahmad, Clifford Charles, Andrew Parks and Lindsey Johnson (CMF)<\/p>\n Day 2:<\/p>\n Have you ever had a great idea? Just something in the back of your head that you thought was really cool or interesting? Have you ever had the opportunity to tell a person your idea that could make that it into a reality?<\/p>\n Today, I had the awesome experience of speaking with the legendary Suzzette Henry the material designer on several Air Jordan models. We discussed the possible material options of an Undefeated G shock collaboration.<\/p>\n One thing that I\u2019ve learned from speaking to people that can make dreams come to reality is that you need to make sure your ideas are clear, easy to understand and organized. This is because a person on a high level of design won\u2019t tolerate you being unorganized or poorly wording your idea.<\/p>\n Fortunately, I\u2019ve been practicing my pitch all night: A G Shock x Undefeated collaboration inspired by the two of the baddest LA teams of all time. The gritty LA Raiders of the 90s and the current Stanley Cup Champion LA Kings.<\/p>\n Designing a shoe specifically designed for agility training will assist in a hockey player\u2019s ability to skate faster, with more control, as well as a football player\u2019s ability to quickly run route patterns and evade defenders.<\/p>\n D\u2019wayne said the idea was really strong and allowed me to move forward! So, over the next few days get ready to start seeing some interesting sketches of what a new Undefeated cross trainers could look like!<\/p>\n books not about shoes? lame\u2026. book ABOUT SHOES?!!! amazing!!!\n past Pensole students doing great things!\n D\u2019Wayne explaining the art of storytelling and marketing\n <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Dexter Sulit, Claudia Lopez, Daniel Raes and Marcus Taylor (CMF) <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Danny Chambers, Ruben Eriksson, Marcus Thomas and Thalia Meraz (CMF)<\/p>\n Hi Guys! When I woke up this morning, I was excited about going to school, just to continue working with our briefs and try to figure out what shoe to make. Yesterday was a really long day; it was the first day of our project. I was still a bit tired due to the time difference between Sweden and Portland, nine hours is quite a contrast. But today I\u00b4m back on track. The PONY team started the day by cleaning the studio; every team has to do that every other day. I really feel that we have a good thing going on in the group, real teamwork and I feel that I can ask the other guys about anything, not just shoe and design related stuff, but about some language issues. <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Satoshi Sutoh, Jonathan Guisbert, Ako Xiang, and Seth Peterson (CMF) What a way to start the morning. These words really hit home to me because this is something I strongly believe in. You have to constantly push yourself to get better and not just compete against others, but also against yourself. I think this quote also told me about innovation and how important that is to a brand\u2019s success\u2026not just from a technology standpoint, but innovating and exceeding EVERYTHING about the design process.<\/p>\n From the left, Satoshi Sutoh, Jonathan Guisbert (me), and Ako Xiang\n This is the Under Armour basketball design team. Getting to know these guys and sharing thoughts about design and the footwear industry has been really valuable. It feels really cool to share something I\u2019m so passionate about with other people who love it was well. We\u2019re each from different countries and bring a different perspective to our group, which is one of the most amazing parts of this competition, you get to think globally and interact with people who have actually been to factories in Asia, and even those who\u2019ve already been working with product for many years.<\/p>\n To the left are boards from previous Pensole students. To the right, a collection of sneakers that D\u2019Wayne designed. Each sneaker tells a story, and D\u2019Wayne has stories for days.\n Today was not just about where footwear is going; it was also about where it has been. We had a pretty cool discussion about different design elements from the past and how they came to be. For example, the elephant print on the Jordan 3, while seeming very intentional, was just a one of the leathers in a pile of swatches that MJ had to go through and pick one he liked\u2026subjective, but something that became an iconic element of the Jordan franchise. Funny how things work, sometimes happy accidents create some of the best designs!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Roster:<\/strong> Guilherme Lemes, Jesus Garate, Jared Fiorovich and Shaun Kosoy (CMF)<\/p>\n Third day in PENSOLE, another rainy morning in Portland. Today I learned that Portland can have different faces, this morning was a very sad looking day, it was rainy, but then the day cleared up giving us a sunny and fresh day. Today we went over some more sneaker history; in 1984 the NBA banned Nike\u2019s Air Jordan 1. This created what would be a game changing event for the whole sneaker industry. D\u2019Wayne gave us another piece of sneaker history by dropping the knowledge of how Peter Moore was responsible for the Air Jordan 1. Our daily Bruce Lee quote; \u201cAdapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.\u201d<\/p>\n To the left are boards from previous Pensole students. To the right, a collection of sneakers that D\u2019Wayne designed. Each sneaker tells a story, and D\u2019Wayne has stories for days.\n Today\u2019s lesson included D\u2019Wayne giving us a presentation of his career and experience. He gave us a lecture on Product Story Telling. It\u2019s very important in the industry, and I\u2019m not talking just about the sneaker industry but in the design community as well. Usually a product story starts with inspiration, which leads to a concept which eventually leads to completing a design. The story will invite the public into your design. Hopefully this creates emotion that makes people relate to it.<\/p>\n We got to our work stations and continued with our research and building up our design briefs. My team learned that Target has done many collaborations with designers for a good amount of time. As a team we are going to try to use that information as a potential influence for our concepts. This point of the design process is about learning the company\u2019s history, past business moves and directions. From Target\u2019s past we hope to create an iconic future product. I\u2019m also looking at how Target is involved with different organizations that help the community in different ways like encouraging healthy lifestyles and encouraging kids to stay on the road of education. I feel like my design should resemble these characteristics because they send a good message and follows the company\u2019s philosophy. After a couple hours of researching, D\u2019Wayne had a small review with my team. He listened to our ideas and gave us important feedback, he told us to go deeper, to fully understand the company, and to find new ways to stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n We got back to work. This project gets more and more exciting each day.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Roster: <\/strong>Dale Shepard, Sese Herrera, Stefan Cristobal and Lindsey Johnson (CMF)<\/p>\n Pensole WSC \u2013 Day 3 \u2013 July 23, 2014<\/p>\n Today marked the third day of the World Sneaker Championship. We kicked it off by hearing about the infamous marketing campaign surrounding the Air Jordan I. One sneaker question lead to another and we ended hearing some awesome stories about the industry. The meeting ended with Bruce Lee\u2019s quote, \u201cAdapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.\u201d This would prove to be the theme of the day as we continue to build our design briefs.<\/p>\n The day\u2019s lesson, Product Story Telling, explored ways that we can cater to our audience\u2019s senses in order to tell a holistic story. The lesson was engaging as always, but DE through in a bit of Janet Jackson to ensure the guys in class were taking good notes.<\/p>\n After the lesson wrapped up, a group of us set off into the Portland rain towards the local sneaker spot for some window-shopping and then to the sandwich joint for some much needed grub. Getting to know so many aspiring footwear designers from across the globe is probably coolest way to spend a lunch break. I\u2019m stoked to be able to meet so many great people.<\/p>\n When we returned to studio, everyone got back to refining his or her consumer briefs with the exception of my buddy Quetzal. He spent a good amount of time taking pictures of all the students, their kicks, and even swapping around a few pairs.. just to see how they fit.<\/p>\n Last year, I had the opportunity to compete in Future of Footwear and it had a profound impact on me as a person and as a designer. So far the World Sneaker Championship is shaping up to be equally if not more rad.<\/p>\n Shout out to the FoF Bench Warmers and Sole of Oregon \u201914.<\/p>\n .Stefan Cristobal RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a0PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship Diaries – Day 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This summer, 30 young students from all the around the world have come together in Portland, Oregon, determined to change the footwear game by embarking in the PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship. Assigned to teams and representing a diverse range of brands, boutiques and major corporations across the industry, they’ve began their journey to design a product that’s ready for retail. These are their stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2415,"featured_media":394573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1219126,1212632],"tags":[1211825,1220018,1211826],"cultivate_rss":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTEAM JORDAN<\/h2>\n
TEAM NIKE:<\/h2>\n
TEAM UNDFTD<\/h2>\n
TEAM ADIDAS<\/h2>\n
\nThree days down and my brain hurts. So much knowledge and so many problems to solve. We started today as usual with a talk from D\u2019Wayne and sneaker facts that inevitably turned into a 20 minute talk about the history of the Jordan Brand. When you put that many like-minded people in one room they could talk for hours. Then after a parade of children on a field trip came through we heard a presentation on story telling from D\u2019Wayne. As we sat crowded around him listening to his wisdom I couldn\u2019t help but think of him as Professor X. The bald dome filled with knowledge for us to absorb helped with this visual. Then I thought that if he is Professor X then we must be mutants using our extraordinary gifts to continue the work of our teacher. If you are also a mutant with a passion in anything footwear related then I suggest that you become part of our family and help us to reshape the footwear industry and in turn give back like those that have helped us along the way.<\/p>\n Day 3 dives deeper into research trying to flesh out a concise project and pulling old sketches for inspiration always helps.\n Reason why I\u2019m a designer number 1,304: I wear sample size.\n Just when you get eight pages of research D\u2019Wayne sends you spinning in another project direction. Researching unknown subjects can be fun though so I\u2019ll happily move on to a new idea.\nTEAM PONY<\/h2>\n
\nI\u00b4m Ruben, 23 years old from Sweden, so it is my first time ever in Portland. That\u00b4s kind of cool.<\/p>\n
\nAfter the cleaning, D\u00b4Wayne kicked off the day with some sneaker history and the Bruce Lee quote of the day. Then he went on to discuss storytelling, which is an important part of any product. He also showcased some of his own work and that was cool to see, not only his Jordans but also riding boots and other stuff.
\nI started to work on my own again after lunch, just continued with my brief. A lot of the work at this point consists of research, about the PONY brand, New York, and in my case suspension bridges. I\u00b4m thinking about using the Brooklyn Bridge as an inspiration for this project, because it is a real icon of New York. The purposes of a bridge is to take you from one point to another, which is what PONY tries to do with this new brand Product of New York. In many ways this Pensole experience is like a bridge to me, a journey, and in the end I hopefully will have a great project to look back on.
\nToday I struggled with my consumer, as I don\u00b4t know his exact story yet. I talked with D\u00b4Wayne about my ideas for the project and he felt that the consumer lacks content. During our conversation he showed enthusiasm towards my Brooklyn Bridge concept, which made me happy. I will continue to work on the consumer profile through the night and I\u00b4ve already come a long way, so the future looks bright.
\nI really want to talk to Suzette though, regarding some materials and colors. We have a scheduled meeting tomorrow so we will talk about it then. Thalia, our materials designer is doing a great job and comes talk to us frequently, she has been a really big help. So like I said before, the team is working great together.
\nThat is all for now, hope you all enjoyed my first post. Tomorrow it is Danny\u2019s turn to write something for you guys, I\u00b4ll be back soon.<\/p>\n Marcus Thomas working hard researching.\n Seth showing his yo-yo skills from his previous professional yo-yo career.\n D\u2019Wayne dishing up our daily dose of Bruce Lee Quotes.\n D\u2019Wayne\u2019s award winning equestrian boot design.\nTEAM UNDER ARMOUR<\/h2>\n
\nSo, day 3 at the world sneaker championship and it already feels like we\u2019ve been here a week or two\u2026and I mean that in a really good way. I learned a ton today about the key components of a great design through story telling. Using real world examples, D\u2019Wayne explained the design thinking for some well-known products and processes, and why they are actually successful. For example, I found out that movie theatres circulate the popcorn smell into individual theatres in order to peak your sense of smell and get you to go buy popcorn if you didn\u2019t already purchase it on your way in! It\u2019s sort of an absurd idea, but it works and is something they build into movie theatres (probably explains why every time you take a girl to the movies, she says she doesn\u2019t want anything on the way in\u2026then as soon as you sit down she actually does want some popcorn and candy and soda haha\u2026but I digress.) Story telling is a really important part of the design process and really allows your product to reach the consumer through their five senses. Afterwards, we discussed our design direction with D\u2019Wayne and began to think about further pushing our design briefs.<\/p>\nTEAM TARGET<\/h2>\n
TEAM ANDROID HOMME<\/h2>\n
\n.Portland
\n.Philippines
\n.Android Homme<\/p>\n