SCAD’s Sneaker Design minor: Where could it lead?
Written by Paul Jerome Watson. Photo courtesy of SCAD.
After being introduced this Spring 2022 quarter, SCAD’s newest Sneaker Design minor is already garnering plenty of interest from students, making it an exciting addition to SCAD’s list of minors. In fact, there’s been so much traction that the minor could become a major in the future.
The Sneaker Design minor came about after discussions about how to expand the Footwear Design program at the school. A curriculum was later written by Accessory Design professor Mike Mack and was solidified into a syllabus over time. And though there are only three classes currently on offer, two in Savannah and one in Atlanta, there are a sizable number of students who have expressed interest in the minor. “That’s the focus—just starting it as a minor now to gauge interests,” said Professor Mack. “But just based on the interest that we’ve gotten already so far, it really is looking in that direction, that it could become a major.”
Two students interested in the program are David Fuller and Jacob Smith, who are both unable to declare the new minor for different reasons. For David, it is because he is a senior already committed to his Industrial Design major. While his Accessory Design minor allows him to understand some shoemaking, there is still little overlap in the Sneaker Design curriculum. “[In Accessory Design,] you learn a lot of traditional ways of making shoes,” said Fuller, “how they’ve been made for hundreds of years. But they’re much more dress shoes made out of leather which is just not at all how sneakers are being made these days.”
In Smith’s case, a junior with a major focus on Accessory Design and his own illustration brand, “Jake the Runner,” it comes down to how his classes are already scheduled. His year and current Degree Planner layout doesn’t allow him to fully incorporate the minor into his studies. “Sadly, I won’t be able to attend too much of it because of my year and with how the year’s already laid out,” said Smith. “Accessory Design isn’t a super big minor yet, and it still needs some growth in terms of getting professors and all that stuff so we can hold it together.”
Despite these setbacks, both agreed on the importance of this minor and how instrumental it is to prioritize Sneaker Design. Fuller went so far as to say he would return to SCAD for his M.F.A. should the program evolve into a major.
“I spend a lot of time with footwear and such a specified version of footwear,” said Smith. “It’s really nice to hone in on that, and pretty much every student agrees with that. That’s a big goal for the Sneaker minor: the opportunity for students to classify themselves and pour all their energy into that.”
The demand among students is there. What becomes of the minor depends on the time allotted for it to grow, the students invested in Sneaker Design, and the faculty in charge of it all.
