As one of the key contributors and long standing designers to the Cole Haan Performance Team, I was honored to be a part of the small group dedicated toward making the brands first attempts at true performance shoes. This collection was designed and developed on an extraordinarily fast timeline and required an extensive amount of revisions and refinement to get to where it is today.
The Zerogrand Outpace is designed as a lightweight, highly cushioned running shoe with a soft midsole, limited rubber for weight reduction, and a transparent lifestyle driven upper. Faux suede, leather and transparent film details coupled with crafted zig zag stitches in key durability zones create a traditional feel with modern execution. This shoe can go from light jogs around the neighborhood to kicking back on the couch with ease.
The Zerogrand Overtake is a responsive cushioning shoe built for light to medium distance runs and uses Grand36Ø foam to deliver a smooth ride. The full length rubber outsole provides lasting durability while the upper has an internal engineered knit bootie for a comfortable snug fit. The upper is crafted with leather hits so it can hold up to whatever you throw at it and remain stylish.
The Zerogrand Overtake All Terrain is the amped up outdoor version of the Overtake runner. It has all the features of the original shoe with an added mudguard for durability, rugged outsole for added grip, and a water resistant coating for those harsh weather days.
The Grand Prø Runner was briefed as a vintage runner inspired by the classics with the modernity of the very successful DNA of the Grand Pro Tennis. Below are inital concepts around what that design could be.
Exploring concepts with classic silhouettes and clean lines became the focus of this project. Material choice was also looked into for the lightest possible options of natural materials. Unlined suedes and full grain leathers were chosen in just the right weight to retain good shape and durability, yet be low in weight and high in comfort.
Two design directions were chosen to go forward and colorways were produced to envision color and material possibilities. The two directions were to share similar tongue and details as early thoughts were to place one of these in wholesale / DTC accounts and one into outlets. The technical package below shows the breakdown of each design sharing certain features but in different trim or material execution to save cost. In the end only one pattern was chosen to go forward as the market could not justify both deliveries at once.
The running inspired outsole was designed with the same idea as the Grand Prø Tennis; coring out the midsole to reduce weight while still providing a soft ride. The diamond shape was retained and manipulated to create an extensively in depth graphic. This graphic follows the curve of the foot and transitions in depth to provide lightweight cushoning in the heel and extra flexibility in the forefoot. The design also boasts a second density of EVA that is exposed only in the heel area where impact cushioning is needed most. Exposing this foam proved challenging and required many rounds of design to execute precisely.
The all-new GrandPrø Deconstructed Sneaker combines the astonishingly lightweight construction for which GrandPrø is known with soft, deconstructed suede uppers. All-day comfort plus old-school cool styling make it the perfect summer shoe.
JANUARY, 2015 DETROIT AUTO SHOW
The RAPTOR production vehicle is released to the world showing the efforts of the truck design team. Once again, I am honored to be a part of such an amazing group of designers who worked on this truck. Although everyone of us worked on all parts of the vehicle at some point or another, the design of the 17" wheels as well as some of the over all sculpting were my main contributions.
This image board illustrates the mood of our design intent for our Grand Motion Sport consumer. The feeling is to convey a sense of sport lifestyle in a very refined, modern approach with clean lines and sophisticated outlook.
Below are some initial sketches of various directions proposed to design management. This design language is loosly based on the 2.ZEROGRAND platform and several directions were explored to ensure the most balanced design was chosen.
Packed with modern, minimalist appeal, this sneaker showcases an athletic-inspired look, while still providing superb comfort and flexibility. Seamlessly navigate the urban landscape with plush underfoot cushioning and a removed welt for increased forefoot flexibility.
Two directions were chosen for upper design as the market need for this shoe evolved during the season. One design became a whole cut style in nubuck that retains a crafted feel through leather touch points and flat lock stitch details.
This second direction fuses traditional oxford styling with an engineered knit underlay that provides the ultimate in comfort and breathability. Leather pull tabs add a touch of heritage to Cole Haan’s roots.
JANUARY, 2013 DETROIT AUTO SHOW
The ATLAS concept was my first concept show vehicle that I worked on at Ford Motor Company. The concept was made to give the public a preview of the all new 2015 F-150 in an extreme form. It was a great project to be a part of and was completed in one full year.
FALL/WINTER 2011
The Realflex Speed was the first true neutral cushioning running shoe released with the "flex" cushioning technology. It was designed to have a more supportive upper than the original Realflex shoe with lightweight overlays that are hot melted on to the breathable mesh. The supportive features have added stitching in critical wear areas and exposed windows of lighter weight mesh for breathability. The thin suede synthetic material is engineered to be as thin as possible to decrease weight and increase flexibility. The bottom features an extremely minimal two piece rubber outsole and single density midsole at a specific cushioning durometer. The tongue is finished off with a lightweight Realflex logo that was designed to fit the entire performance Realflex line of footwear.
The Reebok Realflex Speed is Aries Merritt favorite training shoe. The 110m Hurdle Gold Medalist says that the Flex footwear is all he used to train.
A few graphics projects I’ve worked on over the last few years as side projects to my product work. While not my specialty, I enjoy different disciplines of design related media.
AG FITNESS
I was asked by Angela, owner of AG Fitness, to help redesign her graphic logo as well as rethink her entry space and colors. Along with my wife, we helped bring together a vision for an a sign in area as well as a lounge space. We designed, built, and assembled many parts of the entrance area including the poured concrete countertop desk, retail fixtures, and paint colors. The final touch was the hand blackened, water jet cut, mild steel floating AG logo with LED backlighting.
ANN ARBOR HURONS
I was approached by the head coach to update and created a new logo for the Ann Arbor Hurons Womens Soccer Team. This logo is used on their practice and game day jerseys as well as on staff and coaches.
GROVE HILL OUTFITTERS
A company in northern Maine asked me to create a logo for their hunting excursions guided by owner and guide, Craig Corsi. This logo is used as their company sign as well as various apparel and features a Red Stag as their feature animal.
RHODE RUNNER
Rhode Runner is a running and walking company based in Providence, RI and is well known in the running community for its quality of service and products. I have worked with the owner previously to update the store front and this year he asked for some graphic work to be used on company apparel. Below are a few of the design proposals and a few of which he chose to go forward with creating.
AGAIN FASTER EQUIPMENT
I was asked to create a new line of workout gear that could speak to the budding Crossfit consumer. Most of these products were in need of graphics to help call out the brand. On top of this, the focus was to make it easy for the user to clearly see how much weight was being used. On the fitness support cage, the molded rubber corners are in place to protect the user as well as show off vibrant branding.
The Zig Wild TR (trail) was the first trail shoe designed with the Zig Tech platform and still exists today on some models. The goal was to continue to build off of the Zig Tech platform and create a trail running specific model while retaining this DNA. This project was designed with a function first mentality and these are some of the first sketches.
This asymmetrical design was built with rugged simplicity in mind and features an entirely textile upper with abrasion resistant sandpaper printing on the lateral side for durability while running the trails. It features a breathable mesh tongue and webbing eyelets as well as supportive synthetic on the medial side. The bottom has a 3/4 length TPU plate for protection and a rubber outsole is placed on the Zig Tech midsole for wear resistance. The outsole rubber also has several "mud spikes" which give way on pavement while protruding on softer ground (i.e. dirt, sand, mud, snow) for extra traction.
Press shots from the Reebok catalog show the earlier iterations and first round samples of the Zig Wild TR. Additional graphic prints on the quarter were rem oved for final production models as the quality was not as high as originally specified.
Mens and Womens models were designed very similarly with only a few changes to graphic placement and wording. The womens last is slightly different and required minimal pattern adjustment and retains most of the original design intent.
FALL/WINTER 2010
The Verona Supreme is the cushion, neutral running shoe follow up to the Verona II. The running market is unlike the casual lifestyle market in its adaptability to trends. The running market could be compared to the auto industry in its visual design; the runner tends to gravitate towards shoes he or she knows that work. The average runner tends to find a shoe that works for his or her running style or preference and continues to purchase that shoe or its updated over and over again.
The market is very difficult to break into as runners are as traditional as anyone. They are brand loyal, they demand performance, and hardly buy in to marketing hype. With this in mind, we knew after developing a consumer base with the Verona I and II, we needed to continue to make small but positive strides towards increasing the performance of the shoe rather than its aesthetic. Taking this into consideration, I wanted to push for better treatments and added detail rather than re-design the entire shoe. The idea was to create a fresh look with key details from the last Verona II that could carry over and become part of a DNA for the life of the collection.
Cues such as the eye stay and heel tech were brought into consideration as well as trying t to make the cross check logo a functional element of the design. THe basic layout would be similar with a strong logo graphic and a re working of the Kinetic Fit System placement. Early testing showed us that the KFS parameters needed to be adjusted in an asymmetrical pattern across the vamp area. The challenge lied in executing the logo and KFS areas in harmony without butchering the overall design. This shoe proved to be a great success in the running market theme of "Evolution, not Revolution."
JANUARY 2016
My main reason for hire at Ford Motor Co. was to add design headcount to the 2017 F-250. This model was to incorporate the all new fully aluminum cab from the F-150 and adapt it to the more robust chassis. The real design changes are from the A pillar forward and the C pillar rearward. Ford was looking for a fresh approach to a design that sees little change in the market place. The focus was to amplify the ruggedness of past designs and embrace the “C” clamp design language. The C-Clamp form has been used in the past most notably in the snorkel grill and small details. Early sketches show how this design language is used in multiple locations while not being redundant. My them was chosen to go into full size clay but was later succeeded by a better design. Many of my details made it to the end results such as some of the bumper design and tailgate design, as well as a few wheel options.
FALL/WINTER 2009
hHe Reebok "Premier Verona KFS II" is a followup to the very successful neutral running shoe, the "Premier Verona KFS." This shoe features a brand of stretchable, breathable material that wraps around the foot in the key flex area and is designed to move with the natural gate cycle of the foot. The KFS, or Kinetic Fit System, is a well respected technology in the running world and offers amazing benefits that few brands can match.
I wanted to create a shoe that drew on the heritage of the original Premier Verona but also incorporated a more modern twist that the Premier line greatly needed. The Running Team was going through some changes and the new direction was led by myself and one other designer. We derived a brand language through cues we found interesting in current trends in modern design as well as through the use of of interesting materials in unique ways. Another functional cue we wanted to include was the use of the logo in some different way. This was only the second season Reebok began using the large Cross Check Reebok logo in Premier Running and we were trying to find a way to tie the logo into a functional, supportive element all the while making it more integrated into the design.
These sketches are from the original design season in 2007 where I was trying to find some new ways to incorporated the large logo around the KFS system. The shapes and specific location of the KFS that season were limited to certain areas provided by R&D, so the task proved challenging.
Discussion of a new midsole tech was also on the table so evolution of DMX Shear Technology was explored at length. In the end, marketing decided that simple was best and to replace the old Shear flutes with one solid foam cushioning part. This in turn made the design less bulky and more clean, yet also less techie, as most of the running market currently was. I wanted to create a foam unit that would look as much like a separate part as possible, yet carry the same design language as the rest of the EVA molded details.
In the end this shoe proved to be a step in the right direction as Reebok began to gain back true Running consumer numbers as the seasons progressed.
JANUARY, 2014
The 2015 Ford F-150 Pickup Truck is an entirely new redesigned vehicle from the ground up. Aside from the new styling and design language, the biggest feature of this truck is the 700 pound saving Aluminum stamped body. I arrived late in the design phase of the new design and assisted the lead designers with model options. I am honored to be a part of the small design team involved with this truck. My main contribution to the design was the five bar grill that is available on the Sport package.
SPRING/SUMMER 2010
The Trail Mudslinger is an entry level trail running shoe aimed at the cost sensitive consumer looking for value without sacrificing performance. This can be a very challenging and interesting market as this price point category becomes increasingly more competitive each year. This project came from marketing as a late request for the spring 2010 year due to the increase in product at the $65 dollar range.
Adidas trail shoes have long been renowned for their performance attributes and exceptional attention to detail so when they entered the lower price range, the value was unparalleled. When they began attacking the lower price trail business, Reebok had to start thinking about what it was going to offer to remain competitive. The answer would have to be a lightweight, aggressive trail shoe with true performance features at a reasonable price.
The Trail Mudslinger was born as a tangent off of an old fells running shoe that was dropped from the season due to lack of interest from regional markets. The shoe had a blistering edgy outsole with huge fleet grooves coupled to a thin midsole and shrouded with a zip closure upper. This shoe was built for pure performance fells running (uphill racing) and was not made for the everyday consumer. The Trail Mudslinger on the other hand, was much more tame, but required the same flavor of grunt and power.
I wanted to create a shoe that would be meaningful to the consumer but not so in your face that everyone needs to know what you are wearing. The first sketches were much more exploratory but were quickly reigned in to get this project out in limited time. The goal was to create a great looking trail/everyday running shoe that used elements of the cross check Reebok logo as a supportive structure along with clever details that the consumer would appreciate.
