How To Be A Sneaker Designer For Nike and Jordan Brand | Jobs Unlisted

everyone knows that I'm definitely a sneakerhead but do I have the skills and the patience to actually design a pair find out now on the show that tackles the most unique gigs you won't find any job search jobs unlisted you may know Portland Oregon to be home to some of the mega sneaker brands like Nike and Adidas but it's also home to pencil Academy where Dwayne Edwards teaches students the ins and outs to work for those companies I'm getting a crash course from the best because tomorrow I'm pitching my own sneaker design to pencil alum who now work for Jordan and Nike let's see if I have what it takes to add sneaker designer to my resume pencil is probably one of the only Footwear design academies in the world dedicated to just footwear most people know is from the sneaker side of things that we do yeah but we really do anything that goes in your feet so give me a brief breakdown of who the students are they could be anything from someone who just grew up loving sneakers and can draw but never had any formal education like myself they could be someone who's finished college already with a degree in design and want to take further education explain to us what exactly is going on up there we put a shoe box up for every brand that one of our students get a job at it's a good time to mention that students attend pencil for free which is dope also dope though Duane's design resume the Melos Jeter's cleats Jordans 21 and 22 can't last ships impressive I know not many people get to work on J's I think it's only like eight this a ever that was six I imagine that most people inside of this industry don't look like you Michael Jordan and myself let's see there's probably a little over 10,000 Footwear designers in our industry okay less than 100 look like me less than 100 I'm trying to figure out how to balance that out a little bit better what do you think are some of the differences between what students think sneaker design is and what it actually well you just came in right so what do you think so I imagine sneaker designing being me sitting down with a piece of paper and drawing a shoe I think that I mean sneaker that's not able to look right so yeah it's probably terrible that's part of the process tell you what we'll go I'll show you okay let's do it all right let's do it all right so I'll let these gentlemen take it from here they'll give you the rundown on how to start so before we start drawing what's your inspiration behind she is a raishin I wish I would have known that this question was coming like everyday kind of sneaker just something that you can wear with jeans if you want or you could just wear comfortable end caps yeah exactly sound like that so I think we have some templates with tooling that we're gonna use so you can use that and start drawing on top of this yeah drawing on top of it of the upper got it all right so you ready to get into this uh I want to say yeah honestly probably not but I'm gonna start anyway [Music] you don't feel like I'm making progress no good luck okay I feel like I feel like I've made something that looks way better than I thought I was about to do what are your thoughts on this all right portion on point I'm thinking retail 353 399 I know for someone who's never drawn before I'm low-key killing it right now all right fellas my design is set what would be the next step on this journey I'm now trying to make it look like something real [Music] yeah no sorry okay squeezy pleasure which I and I'm gonna meet you how are you I am good how are you doing good this looks like the scan of my shoe yes so what we're gonna do we're gonna switch spots here you're gonna finish your design all right let's do that throw in the outsole uh-huh so pick a point that sounds good up until this moment I was enjoying my new career as you know one of the hottest sneaker designers in all of Portland but this part right here is the worst this is the least fun part of this whole now paint oh my god I have to do so how long does this process generally take you this usually take an hour you know yep I feel like that's how long we've been here oh what's the but hit me with the butt the butt is your inner crash course okay so what Wow we're gonna do here is actually I will finish this for you I love it I would try it thank you so much good luck today okay so hopefully I'm moving on to something way more interesting from what I know about Suzette she's a materials genius and had a hand in the look of many J's the M lab is like her playground and I know she can help hook up my shoe I mean I cooked up just a little something special right here we just did the render for it how do we begin to pull the materials for this shoe let's go over to the wall because I want to show you some leathers from other industries shorts it what is the story that you want to tell do you want it to be as true to your rendering as possible meaning you could go with a nice athletic smooth leather one I'd lean more towards would be this one because this feels more familiar to me this is nice this you could bring this in here for the Ritchie er you know their color yeah I like this alright I'm finally starting to get excited because my sneaker is about to be fire I'm just trying to let it all sink in because I still have to put my presentation together for tomorrow but one last step though create a physical shoe moneymaker what do you think I think is a hit it's kind of a hit yeah kind of it's all the way no it is okay good work so you staged this book is extremely impressive because not only are you a designer but you also make shoes as well which is a rarity well it gives me an advantage because I could walk into any store and commodity and go back home and make what I see well speaking of making what you see I mean you got a nice beautiful gorgeous five-star design in front of you cut together by myself or is this look like something that you'll be able to put together yes hit it like you mean it and then you press the toe oh sorry I'm trying my best to help you States make my sneaker but honestly I'm just slowing him down this is typically a two-week process and he's about to knock it out in less than 24 hours what time are you gonna be here until as Lionel Richie said all night long yeah while he continues working on this I seriously need to get to work on my presentation what can I expect from tomorrow what is it gonna be like so you will be presenting in front of alumni that came through the same wall sat in the same chairs that you've said it that are now working at the Jordans of the world didn't I keel over the world where they've done the exact same things you've done you need a cover write your cover page it has like you have your own logo yeah I don't have all okay I figure that out between now and tomorrow because you got it your brand then you want to go through kind of your brief then what you will do is you will show your early sketches and then you end it with your final and then the last thing is sample so now you're giving them a verbal tour of the product and then you let them hold it and appreciate it as well I see got it so I literally have to come up with a reason for our Japanese named Dwayne gave me a bunch of good tips for tomorrow but honestly I have nothing cramming three weeks into one day is overwhelming like you stay said I'm about to be here all night long today is the big day and I'm absolutely not a coffee drinker but after last night I definitely need some energy can I get a mocha as if you don't mind and of course I'm gonna make sure my prototype for the SM ones the name of my shoe by the way is ready for its debut he stakes my god how are you bro I'm good how are you doing good I'm excited to see this shoe a little concerned though oh I have my presentation very shortly and she doesn't look completed yet well part of the process but I do my best all right all right my man all right damn I really really really need my boy who stays to finish this damn sneaker the designers will be here in less than 30 minutes and I'm not nervous at all about the actual presentation because you know you boys gifted in that department but I do need to keep my energy up while the time passes I'm precious Hannah and I work for Nike Jordan Bernie my name is Aaron Cochran I'm the footwear designed by Nike football baseball I'm expecting this beauty to have like some killer [Music] shoutout to your States for coming through in the clutch it's finally time for me to do what I do so the sneaker is called the SM one um but before we get into the sneaker I'm gonna tell you a little bit about myself I'm 23 years old I'm both black and white so I wanted to create a shoe that is you know both just up a bowl and just down a bowl got your inspiration from a bunch of different things the Pearl is my birthstone pasta is my favorite food the toe cap is double layered and with that I present to you the SM one prototype [Music] one thing I missed that I really wanted to point out the red color like I said is because my favorite food is pasta but that's why it's the color that is closest to the tongue what was your reasoning behind using primarily like different types of leathers is if you look at this which I believe is called the I stay yes this is where you'll see that pearl that pearlized leather and that is because my birthstone is the pearl I was thinking retail 155 that's in fair seems fair I didn't want to overdo it yeah so guys I need a definitive answer yes or no would you say that I am suitable for this job yes or no she think [Music] I think the internship Thanks I think it is arson yeah okay I mean you got the juice but you kind of got to prove it out now you're early all right we'll discuss salary and all that all right Dwayne that's a wrap on the presentation and the overall process give me your feedback how did I do I think you did well do the verbal was on point you know and as I told you before like that's half for the confidence but when you pitch in alright so now that you've seen my style you've seen my work you've seen my presentation do you think that this specifically sneaker designing is a job that I am suited for I agree with the girls man internship interview it's not a full-blown job just yet it's hard to get a full-blown job straight out the way my man thank you so much I could not have done any of this without you you said and with that big shot at the pencil Academy forgive me right thank you all right man the last two days have been exhausting but eventful while I love sneakers and of course respect the craft I just don't think being a designer is for me so with that I will likely not ever design another sneaker but I did get a nice fresh pair of SM ones that I'm excited to rock the quest continues to find the job that will one day be right for me [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Complex

Views: 2,584,373

Rating: 4.8924212 out of 5

Keywords: sneakerhead, complex, complex originals, sneakers, news, entertainment, current affairs, young man, culture, cool, edgy, funny, complex tv, complex media, jobs unlisted, sneaker designer, sneaker, kicks, clothing designer, nike, air jordan, nike jordan, creative, shoe designer, speedy, speedy morman

Id: fE0G1L4rEJw

Length: 13min 50sec (830 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 05 2017