pensole
+ Design the first official footwear for Downhill Trike Racers. This was a 2-week concept project with Pensole Footwear Academy and ArtCenter College of Design study-away program.
2017
VANS and Red Bull comes together and disconnects the limits of the human body, and gets you to explore the speed and sensation that you only experience while pushing it to the edge.
*project brief
red bull trike strike
+ Forty riders, 20 switchbacks, 4 kilometers: in Red Bull’s Trike Strike, the riders drift with tractionless tires in what is perhaps the wackiest sporting event yet.
brand collaboration
+ By joining forces, Vans and Red Bull creates a footwear for downhill trike racers as a market growth strategy and an opportunity to expand Vans further in extreme sports.
*the challenge
current problems
+ Racers use a range of shoes like sneakers and boots to turn and brake. The outsoles get worn out by the end of one race, so improvisations such as rubber mats are tied to combat the lack of racing shoes for downhill trike racing.
speed up
+ Riders gather momentum through gravity. It allows forward momentum gain, but allows coasting when not peddling.
weight transfer
+ Transitions and changes in direction are areas where weight plays a role in trike racing.
flintstone brakes
+ The friction between rider's feet and the asphalt quickly wears out the outsoles of the shoes.
*ideations
source of inspiration
+ Influences for this project vary widely, from racing boots to snowmobiles. The design is all distorted by its elegant, but disruptive approach.
pure intention
+ The main challenge was tell and blur the stories of Vans and Red Bull together and use colors different from the palette normal to Vans archives.
*overall design
