Before you can design shoes or other footwear, you need to select the desired category. This process will narrow down choices for the shoe or footwear textile surface texture, heel height, and overall style. Some designers become inspired by a specific era and its styles, like the slingback platform pump popular in the 1940s, or the square-shaped high heel of the 1960s. Sometimes, it's a specific category, such as the spectator shoe incorporating classic perforated detailing. The design process must include these vital choices to execute a shoe and footwear sketch and collection.
- Sketch pad
- Pencil
- Charcoal (optional)
- Wax crayon (optional)
- Colored markers
- Pastels (optional)
- Watercolor pens (optional)
Suggestions
- Choose your heel height by selecting from a stiletto, which is generally a 5- to 6-inch heel, a mule, which is often a 3- to 4-inch heel, or a flat-heeled shoe. Include other heel choices such as a wedge pump, which is a solid heel that feeds into the front of the sole. Those heights vary.
- Choose your style, such as a platform pump, round toe, Mary-Jane pump, ballet shoe, t-strap sandal, spectator, or an open-toe wedge pump.
Sketch the choices made in steps one and two in your shoe design drawing. Make several free-hand sketches in your sketch pad with your pencil or use a different medium such as charcoal or wax crayon.
- Draw in the shoe shape, along with special trims. For example, for a square-shaped high-heeled platform, change the style to a slingback platform. You can also opt to add a trim, such as a decorative jeweled ornamentation at the instep.
- Draw in your shoe's fabric and surface texture. You can use the same medium or add color with markers, pastels or watercolor pens. Keep your textile selection in mind such as mixing a grey suede or tweed with a red patent leather.
- Choose your sole type. For example, a sandal's sole often has a grooved rubber sole, or a smooth flat heel. A flip-flop inspired sandal usually has a smooth rubber textured sole. A moccasin, which is often made of soft leather, often has a leather surface sole. You can also opt to design athletic inspired canvas shoes that have a rubberized sole.
- Choose the footwear's style and type by narrowing down what category you want to design. For example, sandals and flip-flops, which are related to spring and summer fashion, have a different style than a clog--which often has a stiff-like appearance.
- Repeat step three from the previous section by sketching your footwear choices made in step one and two. Make several free-hand sketches in your sketch pad with your pencil. Use a soft B pencil for loose drawings requiring thick lines or a hard H pencil used for making details such as sneaker stitches, clog side studs, or moccasin's blanket stitches. Keep in mind that if your footwear is athletic in nature, your sketch must include details such as lacing details for tying as well as lockstitching, which is a stitching detail associated with canvas shoes.
- Draw in your footwear's shape such as a high top athletic sneaker or a boot inspired ankle cut.
- Draw in your footwear texture, such as soft suede or leather. This step is challenging because most footwear textiles are flat in surface appearance. Use a coloring medium, like a pastel or wax crayon. Blend and diffuse the colors to create your desired textured. Use a piece of your selected textile as your guide while blending the colors and creating the texture.
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