by Bailey Mincer
The Problem
NBA players' sneakers have a passionate and robust culture with no greater cause.
Research Question
How can NBA sneaker culture be used for something good?
Success Statement
By auctioning off NBA players sneakers for charity, so many different parties win. The player gets to support their own charity while building a bigger culture around their sneakers and their game by interacting with fans. The fans get access to some of their hero's kicks and charities get to build awareness and funds.
Target Audience
Fans of the NBA, sneaker culture, specific athletes, any of the charities on the site, or a combination of those
Research
This semester, I started off by going straight to NBA sneaker fans via Instagram and asking them to take my survey. Through my survey, I found out which NBA players are most popular, how much people are willing to spend on a pair of shoes, what makes people willing to spend so much on a single pair of shoes, and how much people would be willing to spend on their perfect pair. This proved to me that there is money in this market and a shoe's association with a particular athlete is very key.
I then took my research to interviews and learned more about what makes people buy sports memorabilia in general, stepping back from shoes a bit. I talked to people who had bought autographed items at a charity auction before. These conversations definitely showed some pros and cons about these type of events and it pushed me towards my solution of a website that can operate year round, not just function as an annual event.
Design Process
My design process started with the branding. I knew from the start that I wanted my logo to be text based, so I looked at a lot of sports graphics on Behance to get so me ideas about type. After setting the words Hero Kicks just how I wanted for the logo, I explored colors. A lot of the sports graphics I had seen before were heavily black and white with just photos bringing in the color. I wanted to do something a bit bolder, so I went with three bright colors for my branding. This was a challenge in itself - just trying to get three dominant colors not to clash, but I'm happy with how they go together in the end. I browsed many popular sneaker websites such as Eastbay, StockX, and FootLocker, to get a feel for the basic framework of the site. The pattern of my branding was actually added a bit later, after a critique with my professor, Erin. I designed a poster to expand the brand a bit more and get the pattern to interact with some geometric shapes.
Design Solution
Hero Kicks allows NBA players to auction off their game-worn sneakers for a charity of their choice. Fans are able to browse through their favorite teams, players, models, and more to pick out a one-of-a-kind pair of shoes knowing they're supporting a greater cause.
