Creative Tips For Custom Kicks: Steps on How to Effectively Design Sneakers

A22, Alex. "Icee Bear Customs." a22Customs.com, 2022, https://a22customs.com.

What's up everybody and welcome back to The Finished Product! Today we are going to dive into leather sneakers with a few tips and tricks on how to customize them like a pro. Customizing leather sneakers is something I have done for almost 7 years now on and off as a side hustle. As shown above, these are a pair of custom Air Force 1 lows done by a custom artist. A plain white pair of sneakers turned into a masterpiece bringing one's creative mind to life. The joy for me has always been just testing the limit on how creative I can get while taking risks on new concepts along the way of course to gain more skill!

Sneakers are seen by many as daily use items without much to them besides walking in comfort or for support. An artist see's them as a blank canvas where they can create something original and unique for the world to see.

Having patience is not always easy...let me tell you this from personal experience working on shoes. This is a TEDIOUS skill truly for any artist, but there are tips to make the process easier! The video above is produced by the worlds largest custom sneaker supply company with an easy tutorial on what is needed to speed this process up.

Tip #1 - Prep Sneakers

This may be a surprise to many who have never painted sneakers but you only need two products to prepare the sneakers before painting!

1. Angelus Direct - Leather Preparer And Deglazer

2. Cotton Balls

Leather sneakers require the paint to be slightly removed and this Angelus product gets the job done quick! Begin by soaking a cotton ball in the product and rubbing the entire sneaker then letting sit until dry. This helps set the product up for painting and creates a better quality when getting to the finished product.

Tip #2 - Prepare Paint

This stage is known to be the fun stage because you are able to get creative as an artist with color choices. You can either use a base color right from the bottle or mix colors to make something unique! This is another set of products available on the Angelus Direct site that will be listed towards the end of this blog!

1. Empty Paint Cups 6x 1/16th oz.

2. Angelus Direct Paint

Types: Standard, Pearlescent, Metallic, Neon, Collector Edition, & Glitterlites

Tip #3 - Paint Thin Coats

Now here is where the shoe starts coming to life. A key step to customizing a sneaker is making sure to paint thin coats while letting dry in between layers applied. This will create a solid finish with no cracks within the paint on the leather. Some products used during this stage are listed below.

1. Angelus Paint Brush Set

2. Angelus Micro Brushes

A starter kit is also a good way to go when starting out and a possible heat gun to speed up the drying process!

Tip #4 - Clean Brushes Between Coats

Cleaning brushes between coats is simple! You only need a small container of water and paper towels to wipe the brush after rinsing. I have been a victim of buying brushes over and over for not fully cleaning them so this method helps build and retain it as a habit.

Tip #5 - Apply a Finishing Coat

The final key step when customizing a pair of sneakers is to apply a finishing coat from Angelus Direct. These products help seal in the paint applied and give the finishing coat desires by the client or self project! Four different options of clear coats from Angelus are listed below.

1. Flat 4 - Coat

2. Matte 4 - Coat

3. Satin 4 - Coat

4. High Gloss 4 - Coat

Once again, a heat gun can be used during this stage to speed up the process!

Angelus Direct is a relatively small company that runs with a team of 6 packers. These packers work all day long to provide customers with any product for leather customization needed. I have used this company the entire 7 years I have been customizing sneakers and the products are top tier amongst any competitor.

Step By Step

Customizing sneakers has always brought a sense of enjoyment along with making a small side hustle out of it during my high school and college career. Hopefully this has inspired anyone who has struggled with this art or anyone who wants to start customizing sneakers to just start. Step by step the process turns out better than expected.

Stay tuned for more content on The Finished Product and hopefully someone has a brand new fresh pair of customs on their feet after checking this out! Contact me for personal orders and check out Angelus Direct for products once again!