FINAL CONCEPT DEISGN

After being inspired by several different sources I finally put my work together to form my final concept design. The last thing left to do was to colour it in using different kinds of media to bring out the effects of the materials used in the best way possible. For the soft leather part I used a black Promarker. Since it's a marker which blends its ink really well lines weren't present on my drawing giving off the effect of soft leather quite well. I then used a black chalk pastel for the suede parts of the shoe. The parts which I wanted to stick out, I decided to go for a gold marker which would match the design used for the Snitch wing. The Snitch wing itself was coloured in with gold marker and other parts left white making it stick out from the rest of the shoe which was just different tones of black separated by a white outline to show the different parts combined and match the rest of the shoe. As a last minute detail inspired by the Christian Louboutin shoe I made the inside of the shoe red. It only shows when the shoe is off but like that it gives off a more appealing design when not being worn. 

Side View

Back View / under-heel

Detail

The next important step was selecting the material for my design. I wanted it to look original and stand out but still be sophisticated.  As I did before I asked a few female friends what kind of material they would look out for when shoe shopping and what material they would think suitable for my design. I felt a woman's input would be good at this point seeing as I am designing a shoe for women and it needs to be as appealing as possible to them. The two top materials selected by women were leather and suede. I thought it would be interesting to combine two such materials together to bring out a unique design and result. I also went out to find samples of the kind of leather and suede I would like to use for my design. Below are pictures of the cut-outs I chose.

black suede cut out                                    soft  black leather cut out

After selecting the materials to be used I scanned my first sketch of the end concept design. With Photoshop I then created the design with the material trying to give a clearer outcome as of how I would like the shoe to look when completed. Unfortunately having only had 4 lessons of Photoshop this semester I tried my best to get the best outcome possible as an amateur with this program. 

When the above was finally completed I could finally move onto the next step; Art inspiration. From the very beginning I thought this might be the hardest part but I thought about something which could work greatly with what I've produced so far. Since Media and Design where out of the way, I could now focus on the art design. 

One of the first things I blogged for this concept when it came to research for this unit was the Christian Louboutin shoe. Personally, I love all black with that one item of clothing or accessory that sticks out and makes the outfit. I was always a fan of Christian Louboutin because of the black shoe with the red sole. It really stands out and is such a unique look liked by many people who understand fashion and style. Since I wanted my shoe to be mostly black, using both suede and leather, I could use the sole of the shoe to be creative and stand out even more. I thought this would work and look even better because of the fact that my shoe does not have the typical heel like a normal shoe would have but more of a twisted wedge. This leaves me with the back/sole of the shoe empty and flat leaving me able to design it more freely and also be seen clearly from the person standing behind the woman wearing this shoe. A particular artist I took a liking to was Paul Jackson Pollock, known as Jackson Pollock. ''He was a painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was well known for his uniquely defined style of drip painting.'' [Wikipedia, 2013].

 One of my favourite drip paintings I came across was a piece inspired by his work. I took a great liking to the bright various colours splashed onto eachother. I thought it would go nicely with the black shoe I designed. Plain and simple with a touch of over the top coloured art. 

With this design I cut out the part I thought would be most appealing against the heel of the shoe and stuck it on, giving my design some life and colour expressing my taste and likings. 

Quidditch for muggles.

Upon creating my designs I felt like I was limiting myself. I went through my previous blog posts seeing whereabouts I might be able to improve my design. Whilst scrolling down I remembered about the runway show I posted about when dealing with transformation with clothing. I posted a runway video of Alexander McQueen and a certain shoe used for this runway caught my eye. It was original, appealing and unique. 

Looking at this shoe I felt inspired and decided I could use it for my concept shoe design. All I needed to do was improve it and go round it. The design caught my eye straight away. I loved it's shape and thought it would fit my final piece nicely. Therefore I started coming up with a few sketches and finally decided on the shape I wanted to use. [See Below]

I finally decided to go along finishing off my concept with the design above. Original, new and fun. Finally having been inspired by Alexander McQueen's design, it was time to move onto the next step. Adding film/media into my concept design. I decided to go with Harry Potter more than the Life of Pi for my final piece. I chose to go along this path because I myself being a fan of harry potter will be more interested and motivated to create something with a better outcome along this film and not another. I also thought people might be more appealed to the design I had in mind for this piece along the lines of Harry Potter. 

Whilst doing research I came across a car many people are familiar with and one of its latest designs made by designer Jeremy Scott. The Smart Car. Looking at his design gave an idea which I could add onto my shoe design based on Harry Potter inspired by this car's unique look. 

For the above sketch I applied the inspiration I got from the smart's design; the wings. It gave it a sleek look and flow throughout the shoe making it more aesthetically pleasing. 

I then altered it based on the ideas I got from the Snitch in Harry Potter. The wings I drew on the shoe for my final concept design were inspired by The Golden Snitches wings, giving it a more serious look. 

''Quidditch is a fictional competitive sport in the wizarding world of the Harry Potter Universe. It is an extremely rough but very popular semi-contact sport, played by wizards and witches. Matches are played between two teams of seven players riding flying broomsticks, using four balls and six elevated ring-shaped goals, three on each side of the Quidditch pitch (field). In the Harry Potte runiverse, Quidditch holds a fervent following similar to the position that association football holds as a globally popular sport.''

'' In the films, the wings on the Snitch are gold. The winged Snitch is enchanted to hover, dart, and fly around the pitch, avoiding capture while remaining within the boundaries of the playing area.''

 [Wikipedia, 2013]

Google it

Before selecting what I wanted to do for my concept design, i did a bit more research on several different things and apart from the first 5 blog posts I added abit more to get an idea on transformation when it came to art film and design.
I was going through a few things on the internet and trying to look up information on shoe design. There were quite a few interesting creations and half of me was confused on what my final piece would actually consist of. I think I'm headed more into the poster design than the actual on shoe itself design. As a student going into graphics I think it would be more down my line and something I would actually enjoy doing. Alas, looking at different shoes wouldn't hurt to get an idea.
One simple one which I found quite cool was the 'Custom Designed Google Shoe'. It's probably because I always like that one kind of accessory which really sticks out, be it a shoe, a t shirt, a watch. Even though it does actually have the word ''google'' written on it, it comes into mind straight away that it could be related to google because of the colours used. It is exactly the same as the search engine typography. It's designed with primary colours, just as is the logo of google. They're bright and they all stick out making the shoe and its design very noticable Be it a gold watch or a lime green belt, pick something that people will remember and associate with you. As Coco Chanel once said ''“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and remove one accessory.” Lesson learnt - just don't over do it. 

furthering my research I also found some other cool designs of search engines on shoes:

In the above two shoes, it is very obvious  from what source their design came from and is showing off to the public because they made it obvious by adding the logo of the site on the ankle part of the shoe. They're both designed using colours which stick out next to eachother making them catch the eye straight away. Their design is unique and catchy, described as being ''a geek must- have accessory''.

Above is another shoe I stumbled across which has similar features to the ones mentioned before. They are based on the design of De Stijl. They are a pair of Nike's which the concept design comes from the elements of Piet Mondrian's painting. (see below)

Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red, 1921, Tate Gallery. London.

I am also posting a link I found which has a few other designs such a wii, ps3 etc. http://adventured.com/good-business/social-media/google-shoes-twitter-shoes-halo-shoes/ (adventured.com, 2012)
ZDNet, 2012, Google sneakers: The pair of shoes every SEO and search engine geek should have!. [online] Available at: <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/seo/google-sneakers-the-pair-of-shoes-every-seo-and-search-engine-geek-should-have/2280> [Accessed 16 December 2012]
Roundedoff, 2012, Brass Monki Custom Nikes. [online] Available at: <http://roundedoff.com/2011/02/16/brass-monki-custom-nikes-pictures/google-shoe-nikes/> [Accessed 16 December 2012]

contemporary practice, 2010, Rietveld Schroder House. [online] Available at: <http://contemporarypractice.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/rietveld-schroder-house/> [Accessed 16 December 2012]

COW

''COW Theo van Doesburg, aesthetically transformed Subject, 1917, Bauhaus-Archive, Berlin.''

Here, Van Doesburg manipulated a picture of a cow from a pencil drawing to one of a more abstract design. He first went along a similar style of Picasso (cubism) and then (last picture) ended on a style very similar to that of De Stijl (Neo-Plasticism). The jump from one picture of the cow to another was referred to as an obsurd one. It is there to point out the importance of abstract art and its significance. 

The first picture is there to clarify the last picture, as it might not being as evident as the other two what the artist is trying to portray. Having them next to eachother also creates a great contrast between the different styles of art. The first picture is more traditional and it is easy to interpret as it is obvious to the eye what the painter is trying to portray whereas in the other stages it might not be as clear as they are 'leaning' more towards modern art. One wouldn't normally think to portray a cow in such a way as the last picture. The different pictures/stages are showing us different ''intentions and effects. however strange they may be''.

pereirdasilva, 2010, COW Theo van Doesburg. [online] Available at: <http://pereiradasilva.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.htm> [Accessed 18 November 2012]

T R A N S F O R M A T I O N

to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose

to change in condition, nature, or character; convert.

to change into another substance; transmute.

ART

FILM

DESIGN