STRIKER ZERO
ENDURANCE RUNNING
The story
ALL CREATIVE CONTENT PRODUCED BY TAMIA SANTIAGO UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE
Photo by Ironman
Photo by Ironman
The story of Maria Parades-Fernandez is one filled with barriers and breaks, defeats and successes. All of which not only symbolize her marathon journey, but fuel it. Maria is a semi-pro, KONA participant endurance runner who has ran competitively for over 20 years. More importantly, she served as the muse for my Striker Zero project, a sneaker I built around her unique demographic of runners.
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The hero factor about Maria and runners within her demographic is that she is a midfoot striker: their heel never touches the ground. Upon solving for a lightweight product, cutting out material in a section served as a big break. And this was possible because as a midfoot striker, their heel never touches the ground, so why add material where it isn't needed.
MOODBOARD
The sneaker's silhouette was inspired by the aerodynamic shaping of a time trialist's helmet and its material cut outs by Mercedes' future car concepts. However, given Maria's affiliation to Penn State University, I thought of creating a propulsion component as powerful as a feline's leap, but as light as the carbon frames she rides.
IDEATION SKETCHES
PLATE EXPLORATION [PROPULSION]
FORM EXPLORATION [PROPULSION, MATERIAL DELETION]
FINAL SKETCH
cROSS SECTIONS
The carbon plate extends from the heel to the midfoot within the tooling. Towards the heel of the foot, a hallow space is achieved by the plate bending in an oval shape as depicted in section C-C encompassing the lightstrike foam around it.
CAD/SHELL PATTERN
final render
Exaggerated lacing lockdown system.
Airy, sweat wicking material.
Zero heel weight.
Packaging design
ALL CREATIVE CONTENT PRODUCED BY TAMIA SANTIAGO UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE