Creating high performance soccer cleats for a professional player with a sports brand.
(This student project is not endorsed by the Asics brand and is designed for educational purposes only.)
Brand Research
1949 Kobe, Japan was in shambles following WWII. Many Japanese youth lost hope for the future. Asics’s founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, knew he had to do something to uplift the younger generations. Onitsuka decided to start making athletic footwear that would promote an active lifestyle among the youth.
The company name is changed to ASICS, an acronym for the Latin expression "Anima Sana In Corpore Sano" ("You should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body"), a quote from the Roman satirist Juvenal.
Brand History
Over the years Asics has added materials for all other sports to its production, from running to swimming, from volleyball to rugby. But soccer, which is the most practiced sport in the world, Asics discovered later, in the late 1980s.
Soccer Cleats Selection
Asics is identifiable above all as a brand of the province. Asics managed to create a perfect identity for teams with a certain budget and organization with limited resources and a low interest rate, whose products had to be comfortable, not necessarily with an impressive aesthetics.
Demographic Persona
Name: Neymar da Silva Santos Junior
Nationality: Brazil
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 5th February 1992
Height: 1.75 meters (5 ft 9 in)
Weight: 64 kg (141lbs)
Career age range: 25-35 (2017-2027)
Role: Forward
Market value: 90 million euros (87 million US dollars) Relationships: one son, Davi Lucca, no wife
Demographic Persona
In 2017, Neymar moved into a five-storey mansion that's worth £6.5million.
Neymar prefers casual streetwear in his daily life. The brands he wore varies, like, nike, puma, off-white, Balenciaga
Neymar and PUMA launched a collaborative lifestyle collection that arrives as an ode to Brazil.
Neymar is also an icon in hairstyle. He would style his hair very frequently for the games and other social events.
Biomechanics Study
Medial side is used more frequently
Heel - Both passes at a short distance and even shots close to goal can be useful areas to use your heel
Bottom - Not just for futsal but the bottom of your foot can be used to pass, control and even shoot a ball that is bouncing that needs just a little push in the right direction.
Inside -Used for shooting, passing and free kicks
Outside - Passes and shots are commonly taken with the outside of the foot
Top or Laces - Commonly used for long driven passes or shots from long distance
Different sections of studs have different uses.
The studs under toe box are used to start.
Middle section studs are meant for sudden stops. Studs at heel sections can help athlete to change direction.
On hybrid grass, circular rubber studs are better.
On short and dense surface like hybrid grass, circular rubber studs can penetrate the ground more securely.
Inspiration
In order to make connection to Neymar’s Brazilian heritage which he loves to celebrate, Brazilian parrot is choosed to be the major inspiration for this project.
Athlete Needs
Shooting
Sensation
Speed
Style
First Round Ideation
The first round ideation strats with the bottom view based on the inspirations. Then I worked all the way to the upper, and the main inspiration is still coming from the Brazilian blue parrot which is paying tribute to Neymar's brazilian heritage.
Refinement
The name Talaria comes from Greek myth. Hermes has a pair of wing shoe that assit him to run really fast, and it’s called Talaria.
Function Explanation
The hidden gilly laces keep the shoe fit consistently and keeps lossen laces problem away.
The outsole wraps the upper. It not only decorates the upper, but also narrows the tip and gives player wider contact with the ball.
The sock compression makes user there will be no grass. dirt or grains fall into the shoe and affect performance. The sock compression gives easy and comfortable wearing experience.
The studs allow player to penetrate grass more securely and give enough support in the surface. Such studs are more durable and easier to change direction.
Material Board
The material board sets the final material for the shoe production. The explosive view also explains each part of the shoe and what materials they are made of. These two boards work as guides for me to finad materials for the final prototypes.
Designed by Alvin Xiaoao Zheng
Final Rendering
This final rendering contains the final color palettes and finishes, which also works great for prototype making and gives an idea about how this shoe would look like in real life.
Prototype Experiment
The process of making prototypes took a lot of time. I have to transfer my 2d idea from paper into a tape masked shoe last, and then, I have to take the tape-masking off and transform it back to 2D. racing it in Illustrator and laser cut the pattern I want in EVA foam paer. After countless experiemnt, I finally got the right upper pattern and I have to put it back on 3d shoe last.
