Kwyjibos

NikeID

Basically, I don’t love any of the base shoes that much, so the overall customization process wasn’t that great, since I’m only allowed to choose colors. The overall form is still one that I’m not much enamored of. Plus, it’s a tad pricey at $135. I think I’d rather pay a bit less for a sports shoe, but I guess I’m also just not the right market for this type of shoe. This would be more worth it to me if it were a fashion statement outside of my exercise regimen, if it were something that I’d wear outside the context of the gym or on my runs.

Mi Adidas

First of all, I don’t necessarily want to go to the store to get these. Beyond that, however, I  think the issues with this system are almost the same that I expressed with NikeID: I just don’t love the styles, so I don’t care about the color. I never really wear my running shoes around town, unless I happen to be out and about after a run or something. If  I’m “close to home,” it doesn’t really matter how scrubby I look, and I’m not paying up for a pair of shoes that aren’t really appropriate for any of my non-gym clothes.

Design Your Own Keds

Here’s an example of how a company created a design tool that started to go where I wanted it to with an object that you actually need or could definitely use. I felt it was a little clunky, though, and everything took ages to load. I really liked the option of putting images and prints on in various panels. The colors offered for the midsole were gross. Given that, unlike Nike and Adidas shoes, the performance value of the shoe is less important, I think the materials used in the construction give a bit more flexibility to the designer.  For example, I doubt that the fabrics used in the Nike and Adidas shoes would really allow for prints and images. One serious caveat with all of these nice options, though, is the fact that this product is actually going to be made and shipped to you. This is a little bit frightening. What if it doesn’t look a bit like I imagined? I feel like I can’t recover either my ego or monetary outlay for having produced a heinous pair of shoes. They’ll haunt my closet until I have the oomph to toss them. They’ll remind me why I don’t design stuff for people to wear.

I wanted to start my research process by digging around for customization tools online and looking at what it is that makes some more appealing than others. What makes the customization process fun or interesting or compelling? The following are a few customization tools I discovered that I really liked.

Create Dunkin’s Next Donut

One of the first customization tools I found that I really liked was this application that allowed you to design your own donut. I loved this. The day I tried this out for the first time, it was a gross, dismal March day in New York. Nothing is grosser and sadder than a scummy day when you’re secretly hoping for a harbinger of Spring. So I was dreaming of the beach, and my  mind wandered to the legendary beaches that you see portrayed in Bond movies: gorgeous blonde expanses of pristine South-Pacific beach. Thus, I designed my donut to suit. I selected the bar-shaped donut base, filled it with Chai cream (there’s something tropical and exotic about Chai spice, no?), and topped it with coconut shavings, as a homage to its tropical inspiration. I called it “Chai Another Day,” as a super-cheesy reference the Bond Film, Die Another Day. I know, it’s awful, but just wait until it wins $12,000. But, you might ask, who cares? What’s so great about that? I dunno, but it was really fun to make. It was a pleasant and light-hearted decision-making. Nothing I chose could really be Thaaaaat wrong, which is key. The worst thing that happens is that I make a donut that conceptually turns the stomachs of donut fiends who happen to encounter it… and of course, I don’t win the contest…

Spore Creature Creator

The Spore Creature Creator is a stellarly rich customization tool that allows users to make crazy, fantasy creatures. Perhaps one of the best things about the process of designing your creature is that it’s so easy to try things on and experiment. The creature registers every add-on during the process, blinking gratuitously when you add eyes, craning its head to have a look at its new legs, stretching its new arms. You feel like you’re giving life to this creature. It’s also really easy and intuitive to remove things that you decide you don’t like, reposition or move bits that could use a little tweaking. It’s beautiful. When you’re done, you can test run your creation, running him around in a pen, hatch some babies to witness their interaction with young and how they might exist in their native environment when left to their own devices. It’s quite well conceived.

Marvel Create Your Own Superhero

I loved this. I made a bunch of superheroes. I loved that you could imbue your superhero with a little bit of your personality, project a bit of yourself onto it, but that it didn’t have to look or act like you, really. I like the suspension of disbelief of customizing a superhero. Certain elements tell stories about what kind of a life your creation lives. Body type might say something about native diet. Maybe he only eats spinach, maybe only plankton. It’s your call, really. The superheroes’ base body types are, I admit, a little limited. I would venture that not all superheroes are really all so very muscular. In my mind, I think that some superheroes must have gangly bodies. Maybe some of them are even self-conscious about their body type. Not that I am, but it would be nice to have other body types, in case you don’t want your superhero to be a rock-hard Amazon. I wished, however, that you could do more than just print or send this superhero to a friend. I wanted to order the costume right away for my next Halloween party.