Hasta La Ideas

Designer and sneakerhead Matt Stevens has launched a fun Kickstarter project called Max100, featuring 100 different interpretations of the “greatest sneaker ever made”: the Nike AirMax 1.

As a long time designer, I was looking for a personal project that would give me a chance to get back into illustration. I’ve been a sneakerhead as long as I can remember, so I decided to illustrate every pair of shoes I ever owned. I began creating this personal museum of a youthful obsession that I never outgrew. After finishing that, I took my favorite shoe of the bunch, the AirMax1, and I began illustrating it in a different way each day…

I started exploring the styles of some of my design heroes and current designers and illustrators that inspire me most. I loved digging into their work, trying to figure out what made it tick, and then apply it to this one object. By then the project took on a life of it’s own. I left the tributes behind and began to explore, illustration, photography, design and most importantly, ideas. How many ways could I think of to interpret this one object? It became a playground for all my influences and ideas.

When I realized I was going to keep doing this for a while, I set for myself a goal of 100 total… I was and still am overwhelmed with people’s response to the series, and I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I have unfinished business. That was the birth of the MAX100 book project.

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