Chenglan JIN - GATs Sneaker

Packaging design for GATs Sneaker

Project: Packaging Design / Shoelace & Badge Design
Client: Zoring Park
Service/industry: Footwear

Brief

GATs is the abbreviation name of German Army Trainers. This trainer was well made by german army commission for training exercises in the 1970s. The original designer has been lost to history, but there are some traces of the shoe design at Adidas or at PUMA, both of which are german companies that made shoes in that era.

The Zoring Park edition of GATs is made in collaboration with Dong Xi Lab, which is a professional and sustainable footwear company. This version of GATs is a high-quality reproduction of the original German Army Trainers.

Challenge

Traditional german army trainers have no branding on it. So the challenge is to create a visual image for the shoe box while still maintaining the “no brand” feeling.

Design Process & Solution

Mood board: **The history of GATs.**

The design of German Army Trainers was inspired by a pair of track shoes in the 1930s. The track shoes were built with yellow rubber for traction and leather for the shoe body. This pair of track shoes was originally made by the German shoe company, Gessler Brothers Shoe Factory.
*Image credits go to Gessler Brothers Shoe Factory.*

Design keywords: Redesigned vintage illustration, Storytelling.

In order to keep maintaining a “No Brand” feeling for this packaging design, the thinking behind this design is to use the historical story of this legendary shoe as its brand image.

This shoe box depicts the birthplace of GATs and the various sports that are suitable for wearing it. The rich contrast of black and white that from redesigned engravings gives this shoe box a unique visual style that would differentiate it from other sneakers’ shoe box.