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Wacky Pack Interactive Footwear by Ye Shen |
Home > Winners > Design #150436 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
YS: The investigated question is inspired by the constantly hyped sneakerhead community, where so many conversations happen around all kinds of footwear, yet for many people, their only interaction with the products is to take them on and off. As an industrial designer, I frequently reflect upon the relation between products and users, also I'm poised to provide the most unexpected and unique user interactions with the products I design.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
YS: The Wacky Pack challenges the mundane concept of footwear closures, the goal is to push the boundary of wacky methods that a shoe can be "tied".
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
YS: This is just the volume one of my endeavor of footwear closure exploration. Like a chair's function is to suspend a person's butt 30 inches off the ground, there are unlimited possibilities of how a shoe can be "tied". Of course, selected styles within this footwear collection will be produced in a very limited way.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
YS: Some designs took longer to ideate, but some are more spontaneous. After concept generation, the time spent around testing materials, creative prototypes and executing the final versions took roughly 2 months.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
YS: I created this series during a time when I wanted to get into the footwear industry. I had just learned traditional shoe making techniques and wanted to combine these traditional methods with innovative problem-solving.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
YS: I intend to produce the work myself. However, I am open to the possibilities of partnering with companies to produce these designs, such as Hender Scheme or Guidi.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
YS: To explore some of the untouched territory of footwear design, as well as expressing my own design philosophy.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
YS: The Japanese brand Hender Scheme influenced greatly on this collection. As a brand that combines traditional footwear crafts with modern aesthetics and product ethos, they might not be the most technologically innovative brand in footwear, but is definitely deeply rooted and involved in the conversation around cultures between footwear, fashion and product.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
YS: People who purchase a product not only because of it's functionality, physicality or aesthetic, but also because of the underlying statement that it translates.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
YS: The collection borrows some classic and even indigenous footwear silhouette, but building novelty elements over them, so the creative conversation has a familiar tangible origin to trace back to.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
YS: In the footwear industry, a collection of shoes launched at the same time under the same theme is usually called a "pack". I was fascinated with the phrase, "that's wack!" and at some point expect people to make that exact comment on my design, so Wacky Pack.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
YS: All means of traditional shoe-making practice. From Pattern making, to sewing panels, to lasting the shoes and attaching bottom units.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
YS: The whimsical nature of how the design is explored and executed. I often infused my work with my quirky sense of humor.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
YS: This collection is designed and fabricated by myself.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
YS: In my opinion, mass-produced soft goods fasteners like snap buttons and zippers are fascinating. Firstly, they're industrial advancements that make certain functions easy to perform. Secondly, they dictate the form of closure to some extent, providing limited yet intriguing opportunities to design with or against the feature they present.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
YS: Research was conducted on GenZ's consumer behavior in the category of fashion and footwear. With low brand loyalty and a contemporary view of value, what Gen Z are after is fresh concepts that grab their attentions, concepts that become the pieces and its value.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
YS: There are reasons why zippers don't usually go under the bottom of the shoe. Some of these seemingly straight. forward concepts are actually more complicated to engineer to function while keeping a clean aesthetic.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
YS: To further spread my design ideology though sharing the way I observe, think and make through my creations.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
YS: Process should always be respected and paid 100% attention on, whether that's testing material properties, validating functions through prototyping or test fitting.
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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