2010 Future Sole Design Competition PRod 5 High School Runner-Up.

words_Nick Daiber

When I got off the plane and first met the other contestants, everyone was pretty quiet. I suppose they were sizing up the competition and anxious for what was to come.

Nick Daiber’s 2010 Future Sole Final Rendering

The first night, all the contestants went to dinner with D’wayne Edwards and two of his friends from the University of Phoenix, Sean Williams from Obsessive Sneaker Disorder, as well as Nike designer Wilson Smith III. They all had good words of advice. After dinner, the other high school contestants and I talked about our love of shoes and walked around downtown Portland. Then it was time to get some rest for what was to come tomorrow.

Everyone was excited as we waited for the bus that took us to Nike’s World Headquarters. It was amazing, better than I could have ever imagined.  It was a billion times better than Willy Wonka’s factory.

It was really awesome to finally talk to my mentor, Jesi Small, in person after talking to her on the phone and through e-mail for a month while I was working on my design project, the Prod 5.

After dinner, it was time to go back to the hotel and try to get some rest before presentation day. We spent the entire next day at Nike. I thought it was cool to see all the people working and playing at Nike on an actual workday after seeing it the day before when there was almost nobody there.

It was like a dream come true to meet so many of the designers that I look up to. Even though I didn’t win the grand prize, the trip itself was worth so much more.

Read more about the 2010 Future Sole Design Competition.