Footwear chief designer reveals his 10 designing principles

What most resemble a running shoe? Another running shoe. It seems impossible to bring a new creative look on such a common element of our daily life. And yet, Philippe Besnard and his team are passionately working to bring both a meaningful and a fresh approach to Salomon shoes. We followed him for a day and listened to his design wisdom.

Our design is about generating the right emotion to the right consumer.

1-The runner needs to be taken into a surreal world, but a world that is tangible at the same time.

2-Our design is about generating the right emotion to the right consumer.

3-The job of the designer is to identify what can’t be changed and what new elements to bring.

4-We need design. We need design thinking very early on in the developing process, as soon as we identify the consumer’s need.

5-You can’t simply draw a building or a shoe. You have to think about the concept as much as the industrial process to build it. That’s because you design it, you don’t merely draw it.

6-You have to think about material, color and biomechanics… all at once.

7-Aksing yourself what do you need to spark the initial creative push is critical.

8-Understand the hidden need behind the demand. If you understand the essential need or desire, then you can be creative and bring solutions and touch the heart.

9-Design should generate an emotion. My job is to discover what emotion will delight the customer. The promise and the experience of the product should bring joy. 10-Our job is to create and awaken an emotion, a desire, a passion.