It's Samuel Ross.
Founder of A-Cold-Wall.
Welcome to the first episode of Explore Without Boundaries.
A new series that takes you inside Nike Design Exploration.
NDE is really about exploring
this notion of true creativity,
venturing into the unknown
and pushing design beyond
what is currently established.
We spoke to Niek and we spoke
to Shamees from the ISPA team.
We also spoke to Wilson
who's considered a veteran within the Nike
not just solely footwear process,
but also within the Nike architectural
and industrial design space.
Yeah, and I remember at first meeting
the two of you and this ISPA concept
was like incubation phase.
And you were both kind of taking me.
I remember there was this one space
and you were showing me
all of the prototypes.
So on here, I'm assuming
we can talk about Road Warrior?
It's just a beautiful piece
of design and the forms are
incredibly lucid to a certain degree
and esoteric, but so well refined.
The response that my team gave was the exact same response that
my daughter, who is two and a half,
gave this afternoon as well.
So the response is, "Wow what is this?"
Now we’re on the
right track, right?
I think also because of
the storytelling
and the team effort
it’s such a loved shoe right now.
But there were also a lot of question marks,
like what the beep is this,
you know?
Yeah, yeah.
Because it’s so much, like is it too much?
But then again, like,
celebrating what we have
for me was a very good point as what we do as a team.
We celebrate what we find
and what we have and like
combining it along the way
turned out to be this great shoe.
I think what's really interesting is how these
technologies are combined together
How do you, because it’s a lot
in there, in those shoes, and
it’s kind of a new hybrid of shoes
that are emerging
with the Road Warrior.
With having that plate,
it's totally exposed, showing
its really true technology.
It's not hidden away.
It's there. It's visible.
You can see the inner workings
of it, which I think is nice.
We're opening it up.
Instead of closing it
and hiding away the technology,
we're exposing it
so people can see it,
they can understand it,
and they can have their own
interpretation of it.
So I think that’s whats really
interesting is what those shoes
kind of probe out to people.
I see you guys together,
Shamess and Niek,
I see you doing new remixes
on a number of things,
which is really kind of exciting,
those opportunities of kind of
building going forward.
I like your generational take because
I feel like things build on top
of each other and there is a lineage.
You can look at the heritage
or the history of different
design movements
and how one kind of builds
on top of another.
That’s almost the best part,
isn’t it? of the design process --
almost throwing concept against concept against
concept against the glass wall
and you kind of see what sticks,
you see what falls off
and you learn through that process
and you keep going at it again.
You can see there’s such a
different psyche and philosophy
that’s been applied to ISPA
from any other form of Nike product
that’s come forth.
Can you highlight a little more
about what that philosophy
kind of looks like?
I think our director kind of created
a space for different types
of people to come from different
disciplinary backgrounds,
different cultural backgrounds, and...
He allowed us to come together
and explore these narratives
of what we felt like
the world is evolving into
and that kind of sparked
more conversation, and ideas of how
we can evolve some of the products
that we currently build at Nike
and in the Fuel team
I really like that whole idea
of being unafraid to fail within our team.
It's almost as if our team is this safety net.
Failure is good, of course,
but actually doing it
is the next step.
I think we sort of started
this idea of how to implement
innovation within Nike
sportswear, so it started
as a full on experiment,
and while brainstorming
we actually, Shamees,
you also came up with this
of like bucketing it into
four ideas and philosophies.
And as a group, we started
creating this philosophy
around what ISPA is.
Yeah, and I think they’re always
ever evolving as well.
Like every time we look at
those simple words of:
Improvise, Scavenge,
Protect, and Adapt,
we approach them differently
through the storytelling.
You’re inspiring me a lot
with what you’re saying.
But I think what we were doing
back in the day is now fully
realized today.
And so it’s fun to see it
transferring over time.
It’s interesting, that’s actually
a really good juncture,
to the next point
we wanted to talk about
which was regarding like the team.
And having like a fearless team.
And having this shared philosophy.
Having such a diverse amount of
specialists really involved
in Nike ISPA.
Definitely. I think that’s the kind
of key source for ISPA in that sense.
We need to have those kind of
diverse experiences and insights
and different understandings of
words or storytelling.
And I think with that when we all
come together to discuss this and
build these narratives and build
these products together, it’s cool
to have a different perspective on it.
Design thinking really comes out of
a lot of architectural thinking.
I think as designers we can see where
stories happen that are maybe happening
in graphics that are also happening in
architecture or even in car design
or you look around, even in music.
So a lot of this translates
and transfers over.
If you both had any predictions
on the future of footwear design
as a whole, and obviously at Nike
as well, do you believe there are
any elements at ISPA that are really
going to move into the future
of footwear design?
If there were two or three points
you could extract based on a prediction,
what do you think they would be?
For me, I think I see ISPA being
more ecologically minded.
I feel like we’re examining the use
of materials now. We’re rethinking
the lifespan of materials,
and incorporating that into
the design process.
And I think that that’s an exciting space
to go into because some of these
biological materials behave
in strange ways so we kind of have to
embrace the potential of failure,
but I think that it’s really an
interesting space to explore,
and I’m excited by that.
If there was any advice that you could
give to the future generations
regarding design?
Be open to being inspired.
If you’re designing apparel or footwear,
be open to all the different expressions
and genres of design.
And so be open to anything
from music to art to architecture.
Just really be open to all of those
to inform what you’re doing.
Trusting the weirdness in you.
Believing in that thing that
people might call ‘weird’
and that eventually becomes
the standard or normal.
I think designers and artists have
that skill in them, maybe a bit
more than others, so try to protect,
embrace, and trust it.
I definitely agree with Niek,
and what I would add is also:
be collaborative. You need it.
You need to understand other people’s
viewpoints, backgrounds,
their experiences.
That will enrich your thinking,
your approach to design.
I think that’s key.
You can’t just think
it’s just yourself.
You have to think of yourself
as being part of the collective.
Some of my closing thoughts
from Episode 1.
Trial and error is important.
Trial and error is beyond important.
Trial and error is essential
to the design process.
Error doesn’t really exist.
Error is a part of what we do
as designers.
The reality is amazing work happens
when you put yourself into work.
When you put yourself through
the personal journey
When you take your own personal
background and experiences,
and interests.
That’s when amazing work
is truly produced.
I’m Samuel Ross.
Thanks for watching.