LEV Guide
LEV Guide from Cody Blank
LEV Guide

The final project for footwear design class. We were tasked with making a brand and coming up with our own prompt for a shoe.

I was lucky enough to attend the 2014 Ouray Ice Festival and got to talk with numerous professional mountain guides about their footwear, specifically their approach shoes. This feedback from them on what they really needed and wanted in an approach shoe was a huge asset. This contributed tremendously to the development and final design direction.

The name LEV guide works with the latin meaning for lev which both means light in weight but also to rise or lift, as to rise up a mountain.

Final design direction rendering with outsole rendering.
Brand/ Prompt board and product inspiration
View PDF
Pattern for the LEV Guide's box with callouts
View PDF
Sketch of what the shoebox would look like assembled.
View PDF
Instead of a hangtag for the shoe's features this printout would be adhered to the inside of the top flap so that a consumer or sales person can easily educate themselves about the shoe's features.
View PDF
First page of the tech pack
View PDF
Outsole rendering page of the tech pack
View PDF
Possible development design direction
Conservative possible design direction
gLike
LEV Guide

The final project for footwear design class. We were tasked with making a brand and coming up with our own prompt for a shoe.

I was lucky enough to attend the 2014 Ouray Ice Festival and got to talk with numerous professional mountain guides about their footwear, specifically their approach shoes. This feedback from them on what they really needed and wanted in an approach shoe was a huge asset. This contributed tremendously to the development and final design direction.

The name LEV guide works with the latin meaning for lev which both means light in weight but also to rise or lift, as to rise up a mountain.

Cody Blank
Footwear Designer at The North Face San Francisco, CA