JOR ONE'S GUIDE TO CUSTOM SNEAKERS

 

 

 

Who has creative control? You or the customer? Sometimes I would have drug dealers give me a wad of cash and tell me to paint whatever I wanted. Usually they would end up with the dopest shoes (literally) because I could push things in a new creative direction and everyone was happy. But that was rare.

How many times did I hear this, ‘Can you do me one of those Sponge Bob/ Tupac/ Goofy shoes like at Fulton Street Mall?’ I wasn’t too excited about a girl’s rainbow theme, but I did it because I needed the money. Then she didn’t want the shoes! Can you imagine spending the next five days painting a hip hop Rastafarian dressed in pink Gucci clothes smoking a giant doobie? Yeah, I did that one too. I can only imagine the stupid stuff people ask tattoo artists to do, but unlike tattooists, sneaker customizers do not have industry-standard hourly rates that would justify doing such questionable jobs.

So what’s the solution? For me, doing art that I didn’t feel passionate about was no different to being a retail slave, which led to procrastination and a whole slew of other problems. One extreme response is to never take custom orders. If people want to buy what you make, great. If not, tough shit. On the downside, that’s problematic when you paint something amazing in a size 10, and of course everyone in a size 11 tells you they would have bought the shoes. You will certainly be better off if you learn to politely turn down silly concepts and encourage your clients to buy what you’re good at making.

TIP 3: CREATE A LIBRARY OF DESIGNS THAT CUSTOMERS CAN CHOOSE FROM AND SLIGHTLY ALTER SO THAT THEY STILL GET A PERSONALIZED SHOE. THAT'S WHAT TATTOOISTS DO.