The Inspirations for my interest in Design: Bill Bowerman & Tinker Hatfield

 

Bill Bowerman at work on the first generation Nike Waffle Shoes.

 

Tinker Hatfield, designer of air jordan sneakers, showcasing sneakers at a convention.

The reason that I'm so interested in these designers is because not only were they pioneers to a huge shoe culture nowadays, but they have amazing attention to detail for not only style but aesthetics. Both of these designers paved the way for a career I see myself in in the future, nike shoe development. While I am an industrial design and product development major, I hope to at one point fill the same shoes that they have. These two designers, while they may not have purposely tried to do so, have a strong eye for concepts within shoes. In terms of Bill Bowerman, (the top picture) he was the first developer of the "Nike Waffle" which was one of the first running shoes created by nike. His first design was created from his kitchen using an actual waffle maker to develop the track shoes that are now popular today. I personally, admire his ingenuity with the equipment he had and the fact that his designs were way ahead of his time. Tinker Hatfield is just as famous due to his brilliant design and material implementation, his shoes have been worn by Jordan and have led nike to the next level of street/athletic wear. While both of these designers have a keen eye for visual patterns and features, I feel as if they also have a strong sense of what the masses preffered.

http://www.projectbluefoot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/erinpatton-tinker3.jpg
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/03/waffle_shoes_responding_to_a_need.html