For my thesis I created a sneaker brand named Paliscena. Paliscena is the unused name for the hometown I grew up in. The idea behind the brand is that its designs are inspired by what I'm personally inspired by as it relates to 3 different tiers of consumers. Growing up in any single town or city puts you in a specific position & from that point you find out who you are but also who others are by observing your immediate surroundings as well as looking further ahead to learn the world at large.

Art & product design have been used throughout history to sell, as well as express ideas or emotions & tell stories to connect with consumers. My thesis work intertwines these conceptual themes with multiple processes in design ranging from branding & packaging to 3D modeling & printing in the creation of unique sneakers. My process involves researching different levels of personal, cultural, & global interests to create themes, & produce 3-Dimensional models of sneakers in several colorways that match these themes to relate to consumers at each level.

For decades, sneakers have always been a fascinating product to many different types of demographics. Sometimes people say the first thing someone notices about you is your shoes. For particular groups of people this is exceptionally true. Especially amongst those who are interested in the design & structure of them. People purchase & use sneakers for certain activities such as running or playing sports & believe sneakers are only functional products, while others collect pairs simply for their design & aesthetic quality or monetary value. Those who collect sneakers immediately bond & build relationships with one another as it sort of creates a culture where they “break the ice” & begin conversing about the history & significance of a pair of sneakers one is wearing.

This sneaker culture has many facets to be explored. Certain pairs are limited edition & won’t be produced again. Some represent themes & concepts in popular culture which are represented in its colorway & packaging design. The collectability of sneakers has been popular for a long time but was really promoted the last 15-20 years due to the internet & access to retailers & other collectors across the world. Throughout my childhood, my father would buy me new sneakers for getting good grades in school. Over the years, I accumulated dozens of pairs & developed my own sense of style which was refined once I was old enough to be able to buy my own sneakers.

The idea & concept behind the sneaker brand, Paliscena, is that each release is designed with a specific inspiration in mind. Therefore making each release quite valuable as each one has a meaning & purpose. So what i planned was to have the brand break down into three different tiers or categories of inspiration. First one is titled “SELF” which consists of themes that I personally find interesting which may or may not relate to anyone else for whatever reason. The second tier is titled “CULTURE” which is a bit more expanded beyond “SELF” & my personal inspirations but this one speaks to a bigger group of people. So, it would offer designs inspired by more cultural events or historical eras in time catered toward specific cultures. The third is titled “GLOBAL” which is expanded even further beyond “CULTURE” because this one speaks to even bigger ideas as it may relate to everyone in general. Linking back to the idea of growing up in a specific town or city which is part of a state, which is part of a country, which is part of the world. I just like the idea of experiencing & learning your surroundings & then taking that to further learn the world. To me this is similar to forming a perspective from the top of a pyramid which is why I chose a triangle shape for the brand logo. Starting from “SELF” & expanding out wider to “CULTURE” & then even wider with “GLOBAL”.
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Another side of the brand is that the products themselves should be treated like collectibles or museum-like quality art pieces. My idea is that this brand can contribute greatly to the greater sneaker culture with limited quantities which would raise its overall value. But of course there are many sneaker brands in the world & with the over production of materials being put out into the world just for people to discard them & not recycle them. I thought it would be a clever idea to sort of mitigate some of that by making limited quantities in the first place & marketing them in a way so that you take pride in owning a pair & collecting & trading & repurposing them like sneakerheads do already. That also is a bit of a nod back to the triangular logo with the repeating P in a sort of “recycle” logo.