type type and prototype

One of the "d's" shot for the piece at Stanford. This on is formed by an ambulance stopped at a light on Cortland and Bayshore.

I’m psyched. I’m going to be making an installation piece for the new d.school space at Stanford University. More precisely, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University. As a result I’ve been shooting photos recently related to the work I did years ago.  I love the patterns that emerge when creating an entire alphabet. But for a variety of reasons, that’s not necessary, or possible for the work I’m going to do with the d.school. And it’s resulted in something that should have been obvious, but I never thought to do. That if I prototype an alphabet by just doing variations on one letter, I’ll learn much more in much less time.

You can see a bunch of the “d’s” here. It’s been a great way to develop different methods around something that I’ve been playing with for years. I’ve learned more in two days of shooting in a new way than I did in months. That’s prototyping at it’s best.

The only real downside is that I’m making more “mistakes”. There’s a ton of photos that just aren’t working. But who cares, it’s digital, and it costs me nothing.

More crappy shoes.

I’ve been busy.

I’ve continued with the experiment for this fanned, venitian, idea.

Some learnings.

First of all my foot spins out of this particular model. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fanning, but I’m in the process of experimenting with several other methods to keep the mid-foot in place. And to do so without ruining the effect you get from this.

Also, this particular design is really all about skiving. Without it you’re stuck with a big chunk of leather between the toes. Not good.

Other things I’ve noted. This  design casts some interested shadowns on the foot. It’s almost like a veil.

It’s been really helpful for me to be working on several projects at once. Particularly if there’s any glue up involved. It allows you to do something while you are waiting for it to dry. While I’m playing with these, I’m also working on a pair of mules. They are a total wreck, but the sole might yeild something interesting one day.

Shoe Shortcuts

A while ago I met with a friend who used to have a vegan footwear company. Pretty cool stuff. She closed the business but still has quite a few clogs. They were made by a Swedish clog maker and come in a variety of sizes. These clog blanks are great for beginning shoe makers because they’ll remove quite a few steps from the process. And they are comfortable to boot. The wood (I believe it’s pine) would be the perfect material to tack the upper into. But down a sockliner and your set.

So, if you are interested, let me know.

Email me at tom [at] redcoverstudios [dot] com and I’ll put you in touch with my friend.

She also has the lasts that correspond with these soles. (bonus!)

For a little inspiration, you might be able to do something like Trippen, below.

Trippen’s shoes are so beautiful that it makes me angry. I wish I were that good.