The other day I went for a run, and after I got back to my apartment and took off my shoes, I was thinking about shoe design. I looked at the shoes sitting by the door, thought about the design of each, and realized that they were all different, but the reason was likely because they were designed for different purposes. For example, I looked at my Nike Air Force 1’s, and like most basketball shoes or casual shoes, they’re designed primarily for style. People want basketball shoes that look good, whereas for some of my other shoes, like my running shoes, those are designed with an entirely different purpose.
When it comes to running shoes, the industry emphasizes function over form. How a running shoe looks, while somewhat important from a marketing standpoint, pales in comparison to how it feels when someone’s running in them. There are many different considerations that become involved—the amount of cushioning, the width of the shoe, the fabric used in the upper sole, etc.
That being said, I did some quick research and found an interesting article about running shoe design here!
