Inspiration

I remember at some point when I showed my design ideas in class, one of my classmates said that she wondered how it looked inside my head and honestly, I wish I could tell you some really deep and complicated answer. However, that’s not the case at all. The designs I create is rarely something extremely deep, it’s simply about making something fun and that brings me joy. For example, one design I made and ended up making was a boot covered calf-to-toe in heart and star shapes with eyes. I came up with a deeper meaning, but the original design was made simply because I was inspired by random pairs of earrings I have made. The reality of it all is that inspiration is all around us. A book your reading, a bird you saw outside, the trash can in your room, even what you had for lunch could be an inspiration for the next best accessory. Some of my favorite designs was when I was inspired by notebook paper and other office supplies.

Let’s make an accessory out of something random, shall we? Let’s practice. We’ll take an apple and turn it into a brand new shoe design. For starters, what kind of apple is it? Is it green, red, or yellow? I’m going to say mine is red because that’s my favorite color. Now let’s think about the shoe’s upper. Apples are rounded fruits, giving me the vibe of a mary jane; rounded toe, sweet, nothing too powerful like a slingback heel. Now that we have a shape down, let’s spice it up a little bit. Right now, I have a red mary jane, classic, but how can we incorporate the apple-ness? I’ve got a few ideas: heel shape, alteration of the topline, a button/buckle design. I’m going to change the shape of the heel and alter the topline a bit. I’m going to make the heel look like an apple that you can only see if you lift your foot. I’m also going to add a small bite mark on the topline, like someone bit into this shoe before they realized it was a shoe and not a shoe-shaped apple. Tada! Now we have a really cute design that just started with a fruit! When making something like this, keep in mind the inspiration’s shape, color, vibes, and textures!