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.
