Former Kings of Football
Umbro has a rich heritage with the sport of football.
Their flame has since diminished, thus the need to revitalize the British football brand Umbro in the city of Los Angeles through the sport of freestyle football.
Umbro Revival
Soccer boots for freestyle that are adaptable to its environment.
Only daring rebels do freestyle on the beach.
Challenges:
Sand build up on the ball and feet.
Loose and uneven terrain.
Multi-terrain environment.
The Start of Revival
Optimizing Heel Stabilization
How can soccer boots be more adaptive to the user?
Experimenting Contact Zones
Exploring Torsion
Harmonizing Design and Function
Mapping the Foot Zones
Major Ball Contact Points
Scale from most to least contact.
Material: Hardens upon impact, creating grippy texture.
**texture not drawn to scale for visual purposes.
Reactive Material (lets make it visually reactive)
The non-newtonian material hardens upon impact, thus creating grip when it is needed, and better adaptable to its environment.
**Material is applied on the gray foot zones.
The texture and color of the material react to contact.
**Contact map influencing the Umbro revival experience.
Colorways
Stubborn Waves
City Angel
Team Galaxy
wanna see the process?
continue scrolling.
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Testing Performance on Sand
Since my concept takes place in the beach, I tested different shoe grips and how well they performed in the sand.
Cleats
Feet sinks into the sand, creating “suction-like” effect.
Creates instability on the standing leg.
Slows down movement.
Sneakers
Feet still sink in the sand, less compared to cleats.
Kicks up the most sand.
Socks
Sand didn't get inside.
Protected my feet from the blistering hot sand.
Freedom in movement.
Barefoot
Best adaptability.
But ouch, it burned my feet.
Sensitivity - Can feel impact of soccer ball on skin
Gets uncomfortable since sand is stuck to ball
Experimenting with the Outsole Shape
Outsole is inserted inside my sock to test out the shape/concept.
