To begin with, I just want to thank all those involved with kicksguide for making this website such a positive forum for so many young designers. Before I get to the design, I want to let everyone know a little bit about myself. Its funny that I would win a competition themed "create your own brand", because that is actually how I started designing shoes. When I was in 6th grade, my friend Peter and I set out to create our own brand of shoes. Over the course of the night we developed the brand "Cash Money". (If you thought Cobra Commander was a funny name for a shoe, picture two kids from rural Ohio naming their shoes after a fictional gang in the movie New Jack City). After that, I continued drawing shoes throughout high school, and that (along with some good advice) led me to major in Industrial Design at The Ohio State University. After graduating in June, 2006, I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to work at adidas in Portland, Oregon and fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a basketball shoe designer.

      I could obviously elaborate on the last few years of my life, but I will not force guys who just want to see shoe designs to listen to my ramblings. Now onto the Cobra Commander. As the name might suggest, I had a lot of fun with this shoe. Drawing inspiration from nature, car design, and of course G.I. Joe! My objective with this shoe was creating an exciting visual story. Most often, I was working on these designs in conjunction with a more serious project at OSU. I used KicksGuide as a chance to continue my development as a shoe designer, but mainly as a creative release. Looking back now, I realize how much I was simply "drawing" shoes during those years versus "designing" them, which is what I am doing now. (That is not to say that I ignored logic when I was working on these projects, but it was nice not to have to worry about costing concerns, construction methods, or fit tests when working on those shoes.)

      Again, I could go into much greater detail, but I will leave that for some other time. In conclusion, I want to thank everyone again for voting, for contributing, and for sharing their talents with the rest of us. I owe where I am today to the generosity and support of more friends, family, and designers then I can begin to list here. So rather then try, I would just like to extend that same offer of support to anyone who reads this story. It feels great to be recognized in a contest like this. It means a lot more to me though, knowing that I can help someone in the way that so many others have helped me. Thanks again, and God bless.