Just maybe the hardest part, trying to figure out what people want to wear on their feet.  The Shoe designer has help.  A product manager or line manager will help set the direction for the design.  A design brief will contain critical information for the designer. Information like, who is this shoe for?  What sport it is designed for? what price is planned for the finished item?

This should all be in the designers mind when pen hits the paper.  First step the rough concept drawings.  Just get the idea first.  Once the design direction has been set the designer may create a CAD drawing to refine the concept. 

Once the concept has been selected and refined it‘s time to create a detailer “tech pack” or a set of “spec” drawings.   These drawings detail every part of the from the upper to the outsole bottom.  From these drawings a detail product specification will be created and a the shoe pattern will be cut by a pattern maker.