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This summer, 30 young students from all the around the world have come together in Portland, Oregon, determined to change the footwear game by embarking in the PENSOLE World Sneaker Championship. Assigned to teams and representing a diverse range of brands, boutiques and major corporations across the industry, they’ve began their journey to design a product that’s ready for retail. These are their stories.
TEAM ADIDAS
Roster: Dexter Sulit, Claudia Lopez, Daniel Raes and Marcus Taylor (CMF)
On the first day of the World Sneaker Championship, we were asked to speak in front of the class about who we are and what our strengths and weaknesses are. Over the period of the class our strengths were amplified through practice and our weaknesses were diminished through learning. Each student has a different skill set and a different way to think about things. As I have said before, separately we are good but together we are great.
I’ve learned so much over the past four weeks not only from D’Wayne but from my classmates. They truly are some of the best in the world. One class or competition at Pensole and you will skip forward light-years in your education. So much is expected of you and you are pushed to your very limit.
I think of Pensole as a rocket ship into space. It’s a fast and intense ride that ends in a life changing experience. When you come back down to earth you are never the same and all you can think about is getting back to space. The problem with leaving our atmosphere is the gravity pulling us back down to earth. At Pensole that gravity becomes self-doubt and over-thinking.
Many students including myself find ourselves over analyzing design elements and becoming too focused on what the talented designers are doing around us. Instead we must focus on ourselves. We must come back better next time, always know that there is room for improvement and focus on our strengths. Each person’s strength is another person’s weakness and if we can help each other the balance could lead to something even better than before.
The great thing about Wacom tablets and Cintiqs is that they seek to bridge the gap between strengths and weakness by offering a marker and paper experience with the added benefit of digital tools.
Team Android’s Stefan working his magic on one of the Wacom Cintiq Companions. And here’s the Mack Daddy of all Cintiqs.
