Inspiration Story
Speed still kills! This “mantra” can manifest itself in an Air Jordan performance shoe. This manifestation of speed along with innovative performance materials, can yield an iconic and well crafted Air Jordan that captures the speed and aggression of Michael Jordan’s overall game.
Performance Story
The lighter the shoe the faster the player! With that in mind weight reduction in the Air Jordan 2012 is essential without sacrificing stability or protection. An essential material in achieving overall weight reduction is a hybrid material such as PC2 Polycarbonate Honeycomb. With a unique dual functionality PC2 Polycarbonate Honeycomb can provide responsive upper support as well as moisture management which is imperative in the overall performance of elite basketball players.
-Chukwuemeka K. Ibegwam
Design feedback by Michael DiTullo:
The proportions of the design are very tight through the ankle. Often it is the small things that make or break a design. For example, the back line of the arch shank in the lateral view is just a few degrees off from the pattern seam in the upper. Design the flow of every detail so they add up to a holistic overall design that is iconic and readable from afar.
Design feedback by Brett Golliff:
By playing with the proportion he achieved the look of a fast shoe but he tweaked the proportion to the point that it is not functional. The inspiration has been seen before and while his take was more modern it failed to make a compelling design. What is tough about using a geometric design is that it often becomes a work of graphic design. You have to balance the shapes and create a hierarchy that is visually interesting and has reason; otherwise it just becomes a bunch of sharp cuts on a side of a shoe. In his sketches he had a red side view that made more performance sense then what his final outcome was and with a few details could have been a very well balanced design.
Thanks again to everyone who entered this competition, not only if you made the top 15 cut. We saw a lot of talent and potential. If you didn’t rank, there’s always next competition to improve and you’re certainly welcome to post up your designs too. Give a round to Mike and Brett as well for their design critique. And Brett’s always open to emails too…
Congratulations to Karabo! Good to see familiar names and also new ones in the final group. Pietro with the comeback!
thanks to brett and michael for taking time out of their schedules to help out us aspiring designers.
thanks to john for setting up another amazing contest, and more importantly, for giving us an avenue to get some shine.
great job to all entrants. let’s keep working hard!
Wow. Thanks to Counterkicks, john, Michael ditullo and Brett Golliff for taking the time for this competition and reviewing our designs. Im so happy i won!!
Good work and congrats to all who participated.
Congrats, Karabo!
Thanks John!!Im so happy man.
Wow. Great work from everyone who entered!
It was amazing to go through each entry and see the process from a great group of talent.
Can A Shoe Bring History Back To The Game?
Congratulations Karabo, good work.
Very good concepts!!!
Congrats to Karabo and all other designers…each shoe had a few interesting and unique elements catching MJ’s style and personality.
Thanks to the judges too for the time and effort to write a few lines to everyone.
Good to see community alive and new designers coming up
Ciaooo to you all!
Man…this is a competition with so much talent. Well done Karabo, slick design. Well done to John as always bringing back a community of passionate footwear designers and big thanks to both Brett and Mike for taking their time out to judge for us all.
Congrats Flight, I am a big fan of your designs! I am proud to be rated 2nd and thanks to the judges for quality feedback on all the finalists. There is a lot to learn from this contest
Congratulations to Karabo, very nice design!
A big thanks to John for giving us this chance to excel in this competition. And thanks to our judges, Mike and Brett, for taking the time to evaluate our design, I really appreciate your feedback.
Design feedback by Michael DiTullo:
“Most successful designs always came from an honest sense of material performance.”
“Performance footwear for the world’s most demanding athletes must be born from function.”
Design feedback by Brett Golliff:
“It needs a focal point of innovation that makes the user feel like they are getting something completely new.”
“The Air Jordan is more than just a shoe. It is an iconic piece of footwear that every basketball shoe has to live up to; it is the standard in performance footwear.”
“Start with the foot, and build around that.” ~ Tinker Hatfield
Design feedback by AMG:
You guys all need a lesson in functional anatomy and physiology. A shoe is not a car, motorcycle, animal, building, or metaphor. Your rights, privileges, and responsibilities:
The shoe you design has to help an athlete move better!
See the Forum page and go to The Lab: Can A Shoe Bring History Back To The Game?
Thank you guys, we all did a good job in this contest. Again, congrats!!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!?! the winner design looks like the reebok-ed version of the jordan 2k11!!! it´s a great design but c´mon, it´s far from original or innovative
Congrats and nice job Karabo!
I wanted to enter the contest but I didn’t feel like there was enough time?
And good to see some familiar names from the Kicks Guide days!
Cube23, next design competition should be announced very soon. It’s a running theme. We’re going to shoot for briefer time frames I think and just add more comps to the schedule. 4-6 weeks I think is plenty (if you all have other thoughts, drop me a line). If you miss it, there will be a new one right around the corner. Benefit is people get more practice and increased opportunities to get their design work showcased on the front of the site for everyone to check out. Planning some “mini” themes as well, perhaps not footwear based but related.
to the staff @ Counterkicks you guys are the best!
Karabo big ups on the win!!!! cop some hot ish!
D@LO, BG thanks a Zillion! I read all the designs and crits and U guys r like design junkies and I gotta get on that level. The crits were very concise and brutally honest! Great designs and ideas!! and it was good 2 see some of the guys from the Kicksguide days still designing! Thanks again.
Meka(Chukwumemeka K Ibegwam)
Great entries!!
But what happened to the extend players careers focus?
I dont really see it in a lot of designs, besides being great performers
Kicksguide forever! Looking forward to more competitions