A gift from the sneaker gods. Designers Delroy Dennisur & Spencer Wyatt have marshaled the unstoppable armies of the internet to fund their piece of footwear genius; a sneaker vinyl toy that allows you to make your own kick(s). Complete with shoebox and wrapped in tissue, this simple sneaker primitive has great proportions and shape with a sleek toe and clean sole. 

They were kind enough to hook me up with an early sample, so I geeked out on one for a few hours with some Prismacolor markers and colored pencil. I had so much fun working on it that I was kinda sad when it was finished. I’m gonna have to grab some acrylic paints and really put some love into a new one. 

Buy Stance online or look for them in some of the more boutiquey retailers in the next few months. Or you could like their asses on the Facebook or the Tweeter things that all the kids are using.

After a couple months of travel, deadlines and some good old fashioned relaxing, it’s time to get back to posting some fresh new sneaker concepts for the urban manchild. Lately I’ve been spending a lot of my free time moped tinkerin’ and building a portable hammock stand for Burning Man (“GET A JOB, HIPPIE!”), but I’ve definitely been slacking on the footwear front.

My cubicle Cape House wall lasted about three weeks before the professional ruiners of things decided to ruin things. I was forced to remove the project because it was made of wood and thus, a ‘fire hazard’. Rather than wasting ten thousand words pointing out just how stupid that is, I’m instead investing my energy in finding a new home for it. 

Although I spend most of my time on my bike, the other day I found myself tinkering with my moped while waiting in vain for spring to show up. It got me thinking about a sneaker built for some serious moped riding. I spoke with a friend of mine who rides with the Latebirds, a rad gang of moped tinkerers in Los Angeles, about rendering up a shoe concept for the group. They log some serious miles tearing ass across Silverlake or remote stretches of desert road in California, so Dan was more than willing to give me a few suggestions.

After spending some time in my sketchbook, I ended up with two concepts; One clean leather high top built for rally riding and a low top chukka designed for joyriding. My focus when I started exploring was to avoid sacrificing aesthetics for function. Nobody wants to be riding around on a 30 year old moped in armored Sidi motorcycle boots, so I had to find something that hit the sweet spot between boot and sneaker. 

For the Rally concept, I started with a boot style quarter panel & eyestay contruction. The collar and ankle were inspired by performance basketball shoes, with a partial heel bootie inside for a snug fit and increased ankle stability. I also included a thin plastic heel clip that terminates right before the flex area of the forefoot. This would provide supplemental stability and help prevent a fracture if you need to make a sudden foot assisted stop. The primary material is intended to be a distressed full grain leather with a heel underlay of enamel leather for contrast.

The chukka was designed to be a stylish companion to the Rally version without the functional overkill. Since this was intended for more casual riding I wanted something simple that would make for a great everyday sneaker. I started with a basic chukka construction with a textile binding that wraps around the entire edge of the quarter panel and heel. I included metal eyelets so the quarter overlay could be made of canvas as well as leather. This design maintains the same enamel leather heel underlay for continuity. The clean slim toe is blocked in suede or nubuck to hold up the rigors of other urban transport as well as pair with just about any pant or short combo.

I’m pretty satisfied with each of these concepts and how they sit together. Both share a number of small embellishments such as the color popped eyelets, plastic heel clip woven tongue labels featuring the Latebirds crest and similar executions of the quarter stripe stitching.

I’ve included a video below of the Latebirds in their element… riding, playing with tools and drinking beer. (thanks Babelgum)

For my latest design I wanted to balance the simplicity of my previous post with something a little more dynamic. After throwing down some sketches in my Moleskine, I hit upon a thumbnail that had potential. The end result was solid mid-cut skate sneaker that I’m pretty happy with. 

The primary visual element is a color popped eyestay overlay attached to the front quarter panel with a closed seam for grip tape abrasion. The top of the eyestay continues into the main ankle overlay for stability. The heel overlay is offset from the collar lining to keep the achilles notch nice and soft. Because I wanted to add some flavor to this design, I made the tongue pretty long and added a closed seam so it would kick forward nicely.  Lastly, I the sole is a combination of a molded rubber cupsole with a compression molded EVA foam midsole partially exposed at the shank. The heel of the cup has a slightly concave profile that smooths out as it wraps around to the sidewall.

The name is a tip of the hat to the gritty and abysmal skate park in Hyde Park, MA. It’s a park that perfectly reflects the realities of skateboarding in Massachusetts. Concrete that’s chipped and cracked. Warped and destroyed sidewalks from snow maintenance. Black ice on the mini ramp. Skaters and BMX kids who are there year round in any weather.

Not sure if anyone has written about this, but a couple years ago some local skaters took the time to build and pour a bunch of concrete ramps that were hilariously omitted from the original plans. There were literally no good approach ramps in the park aside from one shallow double sided funbox that was more suited for BMX. The ramps that these kids poured weren’t exactly an homage to German engineering, but they added some key features that were totally missing. Sure enough, someone from the city eventually started creepin’, and shortly thereafter they were all demolished.

So, thank you lawyers and insurance agents and all the other people who ruin everything for everyone. 

For the first post of the new year I decided to go back to basics. Using elements from a previous thumbnail sketch, I whipped up a clean, low-cut versatile bike sneaker for bombing around the city. I started with a simple blucher construction with a low cut sidewall. I then incorporated a classic court style toe on the cupsole to fit snug with slide in pedal clips. 

The upper features a continued evolution of my initial branding elements. The lateral stripe has a slightly faster pitch than the absolute perpendicular stripe of previous designs. The logo execution is a small woven label flag stitched under the lateral eyestay. I think the asymmetrical design of this concept adds some dynamism without pushing it far outside of the aesthetic I’ve developed so far. 

The mesh underlays are constructed from a breathable spacer mesh on the quarter joined via closed-seam with a tight single layer textile at the collar. In addition to adding comfort and breathability, the two contiguous meshes will add substantial material depth. 

I was so pleased with my previous marker sketch that I couldn’t wait to get it into Illustrator. While I had to finesse a few lines and I changed the logo to a tonal deboss, there wasn’t really a whole lot else I felt compelled to change. 

I slimmed out the outsole slightly and increased the radius of the soleplate edge to provide smoother action when worn with bike clips. One of my biggest complaints about vulcanized rubber shoes is how the 90 degree edge of the sole base is always creating friction when you go to slide your foot into the clip. Those few seconds of fumbling are a giant pain in the ass when you’re trying to take a left at a busy intersection. The slim vamp and minimal toe will allow flawless clip function while the top half of the shoe can have the tongue popped for stylish city riding.

The name is a nod to the pot hole riddled avenue of death which I ride the most.

Decided to bust out my markers the other night while watching TV and came up with a mid cut bike/skate sneaker that I’m pretty happy with. The pattern lines are reminiscent of previous mid cut designs while having its own personality. I’ll definitely render this guy up in Illustrator so I can finesse some elements and add just a little more flavor.

After cleaning out a bunch of old, heavy busted skate shoes from my closet I started to think about ways you could save weight and increase airflow while still preserving durability. After a few trial thumbnails, I landed on a super clean low skate silhouette that I thought was worth exploring.

The main functional element of the upper is the closed seam that separates the durable synthetic leather or nubuck vamp from a breathable 2-layer sandwich mesh in the heel. This will give the sneaker an indestructible front end for flip tricks, while maximizing comfort and airflow in the rear. The placement of the closed seam also maintains the perpendicular line element that has been featured on most of my previous designs. The toecap is designed to be a hot melt synthetic nubuck to add texture. Because the toecap will be bonded to the vamp material through heat, no stitches are necessary. 

This was also a chance to loosen up my placement of the logo and stripe detail. After a couple weeks of exploration I determined that a design DNA of all my previous concepts could be maintained with numerous placement executions. I’m pretty happy with the results.

Got the sudden urge to bust out my markers and pencils after consuming my weight in pizza. I had a quick thumbnail sketch in my sketchbook that I thought was worth elaborating on. The basic design is a blucher construction skate concept with the eyestay wrapping into a mudguard. I like the overall direction and it may be worth expanding in to a more detailed concept. I’m not entirely thrilled with the toecap underlay color pop so I’d probably alter it on any future iterations.

A few doodles in yee olde moleskine. I hesitated to post these, but whatever. Enjoy!