Upper footwear

For the upper footwear section, I considered the following points:

The shoe needed to wrap around the foot, following its ergonomics based on three different scans: foot tilted forward, foot at rest, and foot flexed at the metatarsal ligament area.

It had to allow for proper ventilation since I am using plastic.

The design should incorporate shoelaces, as shoes with laces provide a better fit. They prevent excessive foot movement and tend to wear out less compared to shoes that use elastic or flexible parts for easy slip-on.

The shoe will have an opening in the instep area to ensure the laces have enough space to be properly secured without overlapping the shoe material.

First Proposals

Taking the previous points into account, I decided to create two design proposals, both based on the shape of my foot. Proposal A would retain only the overall shape, while Proposal B would include an opening at the flexion point, allowing the shoe to bend in that area.

I found both proposals interesting in comparison, but Proposal B could wear out more quickly due to the openings designed for flexibility. For this reason, I decided to move forward with Proposal A.

3D Print First Prototype

In the first prototype, I combined two types of TPU to improve the firmness of the sole. This first shoe took approximately 2 days and 12 hours to print on the Prusa XL 3D printer. I sliced the model using Prusa software, utilizing the selection tools to define the areas for each material. Additionally, I removed the purge tower, as both time and material were essential resources.

This first prototype was very useful in identifying errors that I couldn't notice in the software. I found that the Silk material was too rigid. As a result, I adjusted the final shoe design, using Silk only for the tips. Adding unnecessary stiffness made the shoe less flexible.

I also noticed that the shoe dimensions had too much looseness around the foot's contour and ankle. Additionally, the lateral malleolus bone didn’t have enough clearance, causing uncomfortable friction.

I initially tested the shoes without socks, but I ruled out this option because the material rubbed too much against the skin. However, since this is a natural result of the printing process, I will use this prototype only with socks.

Model 3D result

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1. File: Upper Grasshopper ↩

2. File: Rhino Meshes ↩