Region-themed Nike shoe design for contest goes viral
Coast Guardsman captures region’s coastal qualities
VIRGINIA BEACH — The shoe pulls the outfit together.
Kenny Jones, 28, knows a few things about piecing together a look — and centering it around footwear.
Since he was kid, Jones had a love for sneakers. He designed his first shoe last week for a contest to celebrate “Have A Nike SB Day.”
Contestants had to create a design that represented a city of their choice and post it on Instagram. Jones chose Virginia Beach, where he was raised.
The shoe’s colorway pulls from prominent features in Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads. On the body, the navy blue represents the region’s U.S. Armed Forces presence, including the Coast Guard and Navy.
Jones’ design captures the region’s coastal qualities, hence the waves. The tan soles are inspired by Hampton Roads’ beaches, along with a trident emblem for the Oceanfront’s King Neptune statue. Jones also drew a clef symbol on the back of the sneaker to pay homage to “music legends” such as Pharrell, Clipse, Timbaland, Missy Elliot and The Neptunes.
The first round of the contest lasted until 3 a.m. today.
The top 10 contestants with the most Instagram likes will move to the next round, and the winner will have their sneaker made.
“I’ve always had dreamt of having a shoe design, somehow, even though I’m just a guy in the military,” he said over the phone.
Jones, who lives in Chesapeake, is approaching his sixth year in the Coast Guard. He hopes to open his own shoe store someday — it’s been a dream since grade school.
He also has a wife and 3-year-old son, and sometimes, dreams do not pay the bills.
Jones saw the post about the contest a day late. He didn’t have time to draw extensive details, or contact a graphic designer for a polished display of the shoe. He used the resources and creative eye he cultivated over the years and submitted his design. The response he received after he posted his sneaker was far from what he expected.
Since entering his design in the contest Tuesday, Jones received almost 30,000 likes on Instagram and over 190,000 likes on Twitter.
“(I was) just hoping all my friends would like it and that would be the end of that, and maybe, have a chance to see a design I created,” he said. “That was the goal, not all this.”
Jones has gained over 1,300 followers and counting on Instagram. To show his appreciation, he tries to respond to everyone who likes and shares his design.
Drew Boyd with Tidewater Waves, a digital platform displaying talent in Hampton Roads, was inspired by the design and offered Jones a free mock-up graphic design to show his support.
“I saw someone repost his original image on Instagram and loved the concept. Within the hour, I took to Photoshop and created a digital version of it for him to use for his contest submission. I saw the vision for it and it was a great representation of the 757,” Boyd said in a text message.
Jones’ said his Twitter post gained some traction after Brendan Dunne, a writer for a media outlet covering the latest sneakers, retweeted his design.
A handful of NFL athletes from Hampton Roads also shared Jones’ post, including Bayside High School grad Quin Blanding and Ocean Lakes High School alum Eli Harold.
“That’s the one thing I love about this place — we cheer for each other to get bigger,” Jones said.
He hopes to get a sample of his design made and possibly catch the attention of celebrities such as Pharrell and Pusha T.
Jones aspires to work in the sneaker industry, but never knew how to get into the niche space. He said this contest could be a step in the right direction to get him closer to his dreams.
“I don’t really know what’s to come of it, but me and my wife keep talking about ‘you got to make something of it,’ ” he said. “There’s something in my head just telling me, ‘you got to do what you love, and you love this.’”