Photo design by @Benjometry

Deadline for applying: June 20, 2023 → Apply here.
The participating applicants will be notified latest by 30th of June, 2023.

Course Dates: August 19th – 26th, 2023 (arrival Saturday afternoon, departure Saturday)
ECTS: 2
Grant: 400 EUR (330 EUR travel to Estonia (Iceland 660 EUR)+ 70 weekly allowance, not eligible for students at EKA)
Seats: 10
Level: BA and MA

Workshop leaders: 
Nicoline van Enter – CEO Footwearology
Luis Bugin – Head of Computational Design at Footwearology
Marina Aperribay – Head of 3D Printing at Footwearology

Madis Kaasik – Prototyping Lab Manager at Estonian Academy of Arts
Kristiina Nurk – Coordinator and Guest Lecturer at Department of Accessory Design and Bookbinding, Estonian Academy of Arts 

About Footwearology Lab
Footwearology is the leading innovation institute for footwear, based out of Barcelona, but working around the world. Through R&D and education they aim to create a future where shoes have multiple lifecycles and are manufactured and sold on demand, through transparent, automated, local-for-local manufacturing and distribution systems. Footwearology works with footwear brands, from small startups like Fused Footwear to large multinationals like Adidas, as well as companies that make footwear machinery, materials and software. They usually only train professionals, so this course is a rare opportunity for university students to work with them!

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Course outline
Wearable 3D Printed Footwear – The purpose of the course is to experience the future of both design and manufacturing of footwear, combining Artificial Intelligence and 3D printing. We use footwear as an example, but the principles you will learn can also be applied to any other fashion accessories and 3D products. It is very suitable for all kinds of fashion and industrial design students and with the techniques you learn in this course you could for instance create your own graduation collection.

Participants will be divided in small teams and each team will design and print one pair of fully wearable shoes.

We start by learning the ins and outs of various generative AI applications that can be used to create designs, both in 2D and 3D. With these tools we create a range of concepts, which we are then translating onto an existing 3D model of a shoe.

Participants that already have 3D modeling experience are allowed to adjust the 3D model, but this course is also suitable for those that do not have any experience in 3D at all. The training will not cover 3D modeling as such, since that would take too much time.

When you have the 3D model of your shoe, you will learn how to prepare it for 3D printing using so-called slicing software. After that you will actually print the shoe in a wearable size, using a flexible and fully recyclable plastic.

Once you have printed your first shoe, you will analyze it and revise what changes you might like to make. You will then create the other half of the pair and print that. Finally, you will learn how to use AI the present your concept, generating videos and virtual models.

Course objectives are:
The course enhances design research, talks and discussions, mainly practical work with materials (20% theoretical and 80% practical work in EKA´s laboratories). The students are required to follow up the class 3D experiments with laboratory work, investigations, and dialogue in the group through their mini-projects. The workshop explores how 3D software can broaden our understanding of contemporary creative conditions concerning how technical systems enable a new type of assemblages. As 3D printing technology is rapidly evolving the fields of design and manufacturing, it also holds great promise in the area of sustainability, offering flexibility and advantages for producing smaller quantities or customized series.

Course Schedule:
Day 1: Saturday, August 19: Arrival, welcome dinner.
Day 2: Sunday, August 20: Cultural program in Tallinn and introduction of participants and tutors.
Day 3: Monday, August 21: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (using ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway and others), creating a full shoe concept in 2D and 3D.
Day 4: Tuesday, August 22: Learning how to use a 3D printer, how to test the settings and how to prepare your file for printing.
Day 5: Wednesday, August 23: 3D printing your first shoe, meanwhile you create the concept for your second shoe in AI.
Day 6: Thursday, August 24: Doing post processing on the first shoe, preparing the second shoe for printing and starting the print.
Day 7: Friday, August 25: Creating the presentation of your concept, making AI video and other advanced visualizations and presenting it.
Day 8: Saturday, August 26:
Departure

Apply here.