Person playing pickleball on outdoor court with added digital illustration of glowing yellow sneakers.

The Footwear Collective

ClIENT:  

Brand Identity + Workshop

ROLE:   

Other Tomorrows
MIT

TEAM:   

Led by MIT, the Footwear Collective is an initiative that’s rethinking the future and footprint of making shoes. Their approach extends beyond manufacturing innovation to shift mindsets around how shoes are produced, worn, and recycled. They needed a kicky visual system to communicate their circular mission. 

The Footwear Collective represents a space for creativity, fashion cred, and ongoing exploration—a “sketch in progress”—while being approachable and cohesive. The visuals support conversations with partners, like Crocs, Brooks Running, ECCO, New Balance, On Running, and Reformation.

Side-by-side image of a neon green background with the black text 'The Footwear Collective' on the left and a close-up of white fabric with a black label reading 'The Footwear Collective' on the right.
Three separate scenes: tennis player’s legs on a court, cityscape with skip-painted buildings and street, and couple's legs in hiking boots on rocky terrain.

A striking palette with electric accents and simple, universal shapes—circles, squares, pill shapes, and hand-drawn gestures like underlines, highlights, and scribbles—echoes how we naturally communicate ideas in the moment. Combined with textural fabric and motion-blur photography, the system carries a sense of momentum.

Three social media posts from the foot wear collective, with the background of tangled synthetic fibers and a skateboarder.
A woman walking past an advertisement on a black wall. The advertisement promotes walking fearlessly and leaving no footprint, featuring images of shoes and people walking on mountains.
A person wearing a dark gray zip-up hoodie holding a black and white name tag that says LEE, from OTHER TOMORROWS, with a doodle of a face. The person has short hair and the background shows an out-of-focus window.

“Creativity is inherently a fearless act”. 

— Dr. Yuly Fuentes-Medel

A group of people sitting in a circle in a room with white walls and multiple screens, engaged in a discussion or meeting.

Designed purposeful, eco-minded materials to complement their annual circularity workshop. Create a minimal brand implementation to intentionally leave space for creative expression throughout the event.

Colorful flyers promoting a workshop at The Footwear Collective Canvas with the text 'Hey, welcome to The Footwear Collective Canvas workshop. We're Getting in the Zone.'
A screen with a green section displaying black text that reads 'Kick Off Workshop Starting Line' and a black section with white text that reads 'Workshop Day 1'. To the right, there is an image of a person in a green jacket and black pants climbing stairs.
Close-up of white fabric with colorful circular and rectangular stickers overlaying that contain motivational phrases such as "Be Bold," "Be Bold!" and "Leave No Footprint".

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