Today is my great pleasure to introduce you Noah Sussman, sports product designer for UVEX Sports in Germany. (Formerly at Adidas)
I met Noah when both of us used to work at Adidas Headquarters at Herzo.
I was working in the footwear department and Noah in the accessory department.
Once a year Adidas organizes a huge design project where they temporarily create new teams.
The idea is to mix the profile and departments so we could create a new emulsion and better think out of the box. This is how I had the chance to share a creative project with Noah.
I remember how much Noah encouraged me when I was at Adidas.
I am very happy he agreed to share his enthusiasm and experience with us!
Can you tell us about you?
I’m a California trained designer-I went through the product design program at:
- California College of the Arts in San Francisco,
- and then six years later through the car design program at Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.
My mom is a surgeon, and my dad a craftsman who built custom furniture. The precision of surgery, with the emotional form-finding in furniture building combined into my passion for the design of emotional products.
Having lived most of my life in California, I love Mexican food and sushi… two of the things I miss most now that I’m living and working in Germany.
I’m a movie junkie-especially science fiction films, where the money is poured into visualizing what the world could look like in five, ten, or one hundred years.
You moved to Germany from the USA to join Adidas Performance. Can you tell us more about it?
Adidas hired me and brought me over to Germany from California in 2007.
When I asked the hiring manager what he liked best in my portfolio, he said it was the series of ballpoint pen sketches of soccer-playing robots I had drawn.
While in the Performance team I did tons of concept drawing-trying to push actual designs, as well as design processes in the team. I am proud to say I won a patent for a suspension-system I designed for bags and backpacks.
How did you get into the sport design industry?
My first job out of product design school was as a model-maker.
It was dusty, and slow…and I never did any drawing!
Luckily my first design job was working at Fox Motorcross in Morgan Hill California.
There I supported the head designer by creating tech-packs for his wild glove designs. This was the best way to learn about design-from a creative master.
I pushed the tech-pack techniques the team had been using-adding 3D views of complicated details and putting real love into my drawings.
This improved sampling from the factories-my boss was pleased and slowly gave me more and more design projects.
Voila, I was designing Motorcross gloves for the top brand in the world.
What do you like the most about being a designer?
Using at least half of my workday to create beautiful illustrations of designs, ideas, and technical details are like being in heaven.
Drawing is my hobby-something I have done my entire life. Now I am being paid primarily to create drawings and images for my projects and my team.
What is the most memorable moment of your career?
I think landing my current job was the most amazing thing I can remember. It was my first job interview with a CEO, and I was nervous as heck.
I prepared intensively, as I knew the CEO’s time is very very valuable.
I was prepared to present my work in thirty seconds, three minutes, or three hours if necessary. She complimented me after our twenty-minute talk, and offered me a job on the spot and even sent the Human Resources to head out of the meeting room to go and draw up my contract!
Can you share with us more about the role of sketching in your profession? Why is it so important?
I am the only product designer in the team, and therefore the only one who can create emotional drawings.
As our products are technically very complex, with expensive tooling, and complicated marketing stories to tell, visualizing potential product concepts helps everyone on the team to align on a project.
Drawings cost relatively little to create and help the team make decisions about go-no-go problems on a project or brand initiative.
Will we cut a $500,000.00 tool?
Sketches can help the team-sales, development, and marketing by giving them a clearer idea of what we can expect as an end result.
Beautiful drawings can also help build momentum and excitement within the team across the different disciplines.
What are your tools and software you use?
I have two approaches to drawing and sketching-one when I’m pretty clear on what I want my design to look like, and another for when I’m pretty blank and need to “find” something interesting to integrate into my design.
When I have a pretty clear idea in my head about what I want to create, I begin in Photoshop (using a Wacom Cintiq or my iPad Pro) with a basis photo or image of a product with similar proportions to the product brief-this ensures that my proportions are very accurate, even though I’m working very quickly.
I will do photoshop over these reference photos, using a messy painting style approach which I learned from a classmate at Art Center, Sasha Selapinov.
My second approach, where I’m basically blank and need to search I use a ballpoint pen, and lots of loud music and caffeine. Headphones are key to this approach as well. I use Spotify to spontaneously create playlists of fresh new, unexpected music.
Can you send us a picture of your workstation or favorite tools?
My favorite tool is a ballpoint pen – preferably a cheap one that I have “borrowed” from someone.
The best are BIC pens, something with a dry gel-ink cartridge which warms up as I draw.
I like these cheap ballpoint pens because they can draw a super-light line, and also super black. They are also easy to find anywhere you might be.
I’ll then photo these ballpoint sketches with my iPad Pro and pile on the color and contrast to help tell my story.
Do you think anybody can learn how to sketch?
If you want to learn to sketch, you can learn to sketch.
Where do you take your inspiration for your sport projects?
Most of my inspiration lately comes from the science-fiction concept art I see. I’m fascinated with technology and robots.
On the other hand, nature not only inspires me, but it also helps bring me back into the moment where I can see challenges with fresh eyes.
Do you have any websites, or books to recommend?
As a designer you have to respect the “GIGO Rule”-this means “Garbage In Garbage Out Rule”… if you put nothing into your head, or fill your head with crap, like entertainment only, or distraction only (like social media), you will see these things in your design!
Research a new technology online-use the power of hot-linking, don’t get hooked on one website.
Read a book about a hero or a villain, or about an entrepreneur-anything you might be curious about.
What tips would you give to an aspiring designer?
Learn to love to learn.
The internet allows you to learn a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g you want… don’t waste this resource learning more about the Kardashians!
Do you have any drawings you did when you were a kid?
The only drawings I did when I was a kid were submarines, aircraft, and oil-drilling platforms…
How is your working space?
My most creative working space at the moment is any cafe where there is strong coffee…
Where can we see more about your work?
You can see some informal samples of my design work here.
Obviously I can’t show my current work sketches, they are for our products in 2018 and beyond!
You can see some current products here on Noah Sussman Behance
SPECIAL EVENT REMINDER 😀
I invite you to our first Design Sketchbook Show!
Where you will learn how to sketch faster, better!
Where you will learn how to sketch faster, better!
Making eye-catching sketches, but also greater design without looking for perfection. You can get your invitation at this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1184847524963001/
On Wednesday 1st February, connect at www.facebook.com/thedesignsketchbook at your Time zone to attend our first DESIGN SKETCHING FACEBOOK LIVE!
Los Angeles: 7am
New York: 10am
Brazil: 1pm
London: 3pm
France: 4pm
New Delhi: 8.30pm
Singapore: 11pm
Japan: Midnight!
New York: 10am
Brazil: 1pm
London: 3pm
France: 4pm
New Delhi: 8.30pm
Singapore: 11pm
Japan: Midnight!
You can already prepare your questions.
I will be happy to help you! See you next week ! 😀
[…] Bailey’s work played an influential role in my decision to become a Footwear Designer for Adidas and more. I’ll never forget the day he featured some of my own shoe sketches on his blog […]