STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM
The fastest way to improve the Hellion Elite wasn’t to start with the upper.We went back to the foundation — outsole, midsole, last, and overall platform — and rebuilt the product from the ground up.The existing last was limiting fit, construction, and the way the upper wrapped the foot. By developing a new last alongside the sole platform, we were able to control the geometry of the shoe as a complete system rather than solving problems independently.From there, development moved into last creation, sole development, and iterative prototyping — establishing the architecture that would ultimately define the finished shoe.
CAD CREATION AND REFINMENT
OUTSOLE CREATION
With the platform established, the outsole became the next major development challenge.The goal wasn’t simply to create a new tread pattern. We were balancing traction, durability, pedal feel, weight, and manufacturability while maintaining the aggressive character of the Hellion.The outsole was developed as a system — working through lug geometry, contact areas, flex zones, rubber placement, and the relationship between the outsole and the underlying platform.Multiple iterations allowed us to refine the pattern and construction until the outsole delivered the right combination of grip, control, and durability without adding unnecessary material or weight.
BRINGING IT TOGETHER
With the last and outsole established, the upper became the connective tissue between every part of the system.The upper was built directly around the new platform, translating the functional requirements into a cohesive visual language. Panels, overlays, reinforcement zones, hardware, and interfaces were developed together in CAD — constantly balancing fit, structure, construction, and visual impact.This stage brought the individual components together as a complete product and created the foundation for high-fidelity visualization, review, and iteration before physical samples were produced.
Marketing Visuals
FROM CAD TO CAMPAIGN
With the product architecture locked, the final step was translating the developed shoe into a market-ready visual system.High-fidelity renders were created to communicate the finished product across sales, marketing, and launch materials. From there, I explored a range of colorways and material combinations to test how the Hellion Elite could flex across different consumer and brand expressions.
AI became part of the exploration process — allowing us to rapidly visualize color, material, and environmental directions before committing to final production assets.The result was a complete visual toolkit: final product imagery, colorway exploration, and campaign-ready visuals built from the same underlying product development work.
AI became part of the exploration process — allowing us to rapidly visualize color, material, and environmental directions before committing to final production assets.The result was a complete visual toolkit: final product imagery, colorway exploration, and campaign-ready visuals built from the same underlying product development work.
AI Integration
With the form locked, color became a tool for exploring the personality of the Hellion Elite. I developed multiple color and material combinations to test different expressions of the shoe—from understated and technical to more aggressive and performance-driven—using AI to rapidly expand the range of directions before narrowing into final production colorways.
