PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 7
New BalanceNews

PENSOLE and New Balance Announce Footwear Design Master Class

PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy and New Balance today announced the launch of The PENSOLE Master Class in Footwear Design, a hands-on, three-week, intensive footwear, color and materials design immersion program to introduce aspiring designers to the art of footwear design, according to PENSOLE founder D’Wayne Edwards. 

The PENSOLE Master Class will take place from January 4-25, 2017, at New Balance’s Research and Design Center in Lawrence, MA, after a global search for the best 20 aspiring designers, comprising 15 in footwear and five in color and materials, is completed.

Registration begins today. Design students wishing to be considered for the class can apply here. The final selection of 20 students will be announced on December 9.

New Balance will provide scholarships (tuition and housing) for the hand-selected aspiring designers to experience PENSOLE’s rigorous “learn by doing” curriculum, wherein students are assigned New Balance projects to develop.

Top students will have the opportunity to be considered for a one-year apprenticeship at the New Balance Design Foundry.

“This is our inaugural engagement with New Balance and we’re very excited to partner with the company’s design team,” Edwards said. “As with all PENSOLE programs, this is not a typical academic setting. At the end of the three weeks these students will have a different outlook on design, themselves and New Balance.”

The PENSOLE Master Class will feature industry professionals ranging from design managers, design directors, designers, pattern engineers, and recruiters, all there to share knowledge to inspire, guide and challenge young designers to reach their creative potential. 

The class will emphasize a mix of footwear design and professional skills including:

  • Design process
  • Design briefs
  • Sketching
  • Terminologies
  • Materials
  • Pattern making
  • Personal branding
  • Business conduct
  • Business networking
  • Portfolio development
  • Resume development
  • Time management
  • Visual presentation
  • Verbal presentation

About PENSOLE
PENSOLE’s “learn by doing” curriculum teaches students the entire footwear design process: inspiration, concept-development, design process, problem solving, materials, business, networking, marketing, and branding. PENSOLE features the most sought after faculty in footwear, comprised of both young professional designers and established footwear design leaders from the top footwear brands, with more than 100 years combined experience to help you with your professional development.

D’Wayne Edwards, a celebrated member of the global footwear community for the last 27 years, founded PENSOLE to give talented young design students—regardless of socioeconomic background—an opportunity to learn from the industry’s best, without financial barriers, and to provide the industry with a farm system for the next generation of footwear designers.

Since the first PENSOLE class in 2010, more than 175 Academy graduates have been placed professionally, full-time or as interns, for footwear companies worldwide, including Columbia Sportswear, Timberland, Converse, AND1, New Balance, Wolverine, Cole Haan, Under Armour, Keen, Ariat, Stride Rite, adidas, JORDAN, Kenneth Cole, Reebok and Nike.

PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 0
Daniel Raes’ shoe designs can been seen on the wall, during the World Sneaker Championships workshop, at Pensole Footwear Design Academy, in Portland, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. The school was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. It was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 5PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 5
Students often critique themselves, at the four week long WSC workshop at the Pensole Footwear Design Academy in Portland, on Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. The school, founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. The school was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
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Victoria Adesanmi explains her footwear design concepts during a presentation event, showcasing the results of the WSC four week long master class, to a panel of judges, at Pensole Footwear Design Academy in Portland, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The school was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. It was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 4
A more detailed foot model with muscle details is sometimes used for more technical training shoe designs, at the WSC workshop at Pensole Footwear Design Academy in Portland, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014. The school was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. It was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 2
Quetzal Ramos, left, Jesus Garate, top, and Guy Perez, right, work on taping down plastic foot models in order to create a paper mold so that they may sketch on it, during the World Sneaker Championships workshop at Pensole Footwear Design Academy in Portland, on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. The school, founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. The school was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 7
World Sneaker Championship workshop students present their final footwear designs during a presentation event, showcasing the results of their four week long master class, to a panel of judges, at Pensole Footwear Design Academy in Portland, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The school was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. It was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam
PENSOLE and New Balance footwear design master class 8
WSC workshop student Sese Herrera works up till the last minute to create a working prototype of his shoe design as other students prepare for the final presentation event, showcasing the results of their footwear design master class as the culmination of all their work will be shown to a panel of judges, at Pensole Footwear Design Academy, in Portland, on Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The school was founded in 2010 by D’Wayne Edwards, former footwear design director for Jordan Brand, a division of Nike Inc. It was formed to provide all talented young design students, regardless of socioeconomic background, an opportunity to attend a footwear design “master class” the athletic footwear industry can hire directly from, and to learn from the industry’s finest. Credit: Marcus Yam

Source: Pensole

Noah Goldowitz

Noah Goldowitz, Editor in Chief at WearTesters.com, is a long-time sneaker fanatic and vintage sneaker lover with a deep passion for all things sneaker related. He also wrote at SneakerHistory.com. Connect with him on socials @NoahGoldowitz.