Get In The Lab: Designing The Air Jordan 2012

I’ve become good friends with the Air Jordan 2012 in the past few months, first going to the launch in New Jersey, then getting to be one of the first people in the world to customize my very own pair (which should be arriving soon… hopefully!). Even this past Sunday at All-Star Weekend, I was hooked up once again and hooped against Jadakiss and DJ Clue in these joints. Now being tasked with building and customizing my ultimate sneaker, I knew where I was starting.

Choosing between the Air Jordan 2012’s three separate cushioning systems – Fly Over, Fly Around and Fly Through – I critiqued my own game, which revolves around quick dribble moves, pull-ups and speed, and went with the Fly Around midsole and lo innersleeve. Next, I brought in a nubuck overlay and gave the sneaker a splash of color with a yellow Jumpman logo and yellow laces to contrast my Carolina blue. The sneaker fits my personality, and the colorway screams “look at me.”

Check out the evolution below.

*** *** ***


You can’t go wrong with a black base color. It gives you options to play off it and gives the sneaker a foundation so your mind doesn’t wander too much.
Who’s going to argue with Carolina blue? Luckily, the people at Jordan already hooked me up with the actually Carolina Blue editions that released earlier this year, but who’s to say I can’t build my own design off that? A nubuck baby blue overlay works wonders.

The Jumpman logo always has to punch. It just does. It’s like a requirement. On this sneaker, a white logo wouldn’t do it. I needed something similar to a “Laney High School” design. The yellow makes magic here.
I wasn’t sure about adding more yellow to the laces, but I felt the sneaker needed just a little more pop.

I had to stay routine with the midsole color. Black was an option, but it didn’t look good next to the black base. But Carolina blue? Give me some of that.
A lot of Jordan heads love keeping their outsoles icy. Me? I don’t pay enough attention to them until they start yellowing. Give me a black outsole here to nearly complete the design.

Finally, normally I would ditch the Jumpman logo here for something more personalized. But in this fashion, I decided to keep it. The only problem was I needed it to be almost invisible so the yellow would splash. A black logo with a black insert? Yes please.

And finally… the end result:
If you’re interested in either buying a pair or just messing around, hit up the NikeID.com site.

What would your AJ 2012 design look like?

Follow Sean on Twitter at @SEANesweeney.

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×