adidas SPIDER / middle distance spike footwear design | 24 june 2010 SPIDER is filling up the MD gap in adidas entry T&F range. I designed this model last year, the process was quite exciting since Spider's direction changed few times. Spikes are the most challenging but the same time rewarding type of shoes to design. I love to work on T&F because every piece has to be functional. And to see athletes wearing them always makes me happy and sometimes... maybe even proud a bit. So, the design process started from couple of concepts like this: after few revisions rendering was made and the direction was accepted: but then... I realized that making side mesh window at the forefoot would be a mistake. For the reason below: this is exactly where landing zone is when you running fast. You need protection and support there. It was obvious already many years ago: so the new direction addressed this as the leading story for this model. When designing spikes three things are crucial: - fit - traction - weight FIT was addressed by using functional stripes (midfoot), wrapping synthetic piece around the heel and forefoot - by longer lacing and synthetic "support fingers": TRACTION is given by metal spikes of course but secondary plate elements give a lot of benefit as well. Innovative design of traction elements. Pointy lugs penetrate well but they harder to remove. These spikes gives better traction because of wider ground contact. They are easy to release thanks to angled top line: