Sometimes an idea is born from a moment of complete boredom. While sitting through a particularly painful meeting one day, I took a break from writing snarky notes to my coworker and banged out a quick sketch for a wall that I could build around my desk at work. I liked the concept right away, as it was kind of a play on how much of my life I spend at work. From an execution standpoint, it was a project that would present numerous logistical challenges and push my woodworking abilities beyond what I had ever previously attempted. 

Once I committed in my head to go through with the project, I immediately started taking measurements of my work desk and cube space. I figured that I couldn’t get away with building anything that annexed additional floor space, so I used the dimensions of my desk as the interior perimeter of the structure. Next step was to figure out how to build it so I could get it into (and out of) the office in a very short amount of time. I settled on a three piece design that included a main wall with a window, a long wall that hovered over the top surface of the desk and a small stabilizing leg that would be wedged in between the desk and the cube wall. 

The exterior of the wall is made from a mix of MDF and pine molding with the center panels filled in with cedar shingle. One major logistical challenge was the scale of the molding. Molding used in full size homes is fairly thick and very expensive. When I went to draw up plans in Illustrator, it quickly became obvious that if I were to use stock molding for the entire project, the size of the wall would grow beyond what I was comfortable with. So as a result I had to plane down all of the wood used to about 75% of true home scale. The window is made from some scrap tempered glass shelves I had sitting on my back porch.

The interior wall is made from 1/4” drywall. This being my first time installing wall board, I wasn’t super impressed with my taping and mudding but I’m probably just being hard on myself. I knew I wanted to have a shelf on the long wall for shoes and toys, but wasn’t sure the best way to execute it. In the end I settled on a floating shelf design made from pine and MDF sheets.

With the help of a couple friends, I brought the completed structure into the office and all of the pieces slid together as designed. After months of labor and triple checking all of my measurements, it was satisfying to overcome all of the logistical issues and have the project completed. Time for a beer.

Super special thanks to Jesse and Alice for getting up so early to help me set this mother up. Couldn’t have done it without you guys.

This next concept is a nod to the current popularity of boat shoes and moccasin toes. Personally, I’d have a hard time wearing a traditional Sperry-esque boat shoe because it’s just not my personal aesthetic. When I started this design, I wanted to create something that would lean a little closer towards a sneaker so it wouldn’t looked dated when boat shoes fell out of favor. The first and most obvious design choice was to add the vulcanized rubber outsole, as the look of the traditional boating shoe immediately suggests wealth and class, neither of which apply to me. 

I designed this shoe to be made of canvas or ripstop nylon with flat athletic laces in place of raw-hide leather or round decorative laces. This would help pull it further away from its conservative leather original and give it enough of sneaker spin that it would appeal to a larger demographic. Lastly, the contrast stitches of the lateral logo stripe visually break up the traditional eyestay overlay and make the overall design sit with the other footwear concepts.

I just finished my second footwear design concept in this first series. This design is an all purpose urban bike/skate sneaker with a thick midfoot strap for fit.

I almost always tie my main bike sneakers once and then kick them on and off without untying. The strap will allow a quick secure fit without sacrificing the function and aesthetic of laces. To ensure this concept would be suitable for skateboarding, I designed the midsole to have a low sidewall in the forefoot so the user can be closer to the board. The ‘ollie’ area of the shoe has minimal structural stitching exposed to the grip tape. The vanity stitching will wear away like any skateboard shoe, but the assembly of the quarter, eyestay and toe should remain intact for the life of the shoe.