About the Competition

SOURCE has been holding a sandal strap design competition for several years. The competition is open to everyone: graphic designers, textile designers, product designers and anyone interested in the challenge of designing straps. The goal of the competition is to bring to the fore new ideas and various design concepts that we can use in the creation of a uniquely different and refreshingly innovative sandal collection.

SOURCE Sandals and their Straps

SOURCE produces three categories of sandals: Trek – sandals that provide outstanding performance over all terrains, no matter how difficult; Hike – sandals that combine quality and comfort and are suitable for ordinary hikes; Wander – leisure sandals that are appropriate for vacations and city walks.
We produce models for men, women and children. There are wildly colorful models as well as models that have a solid look. There are models that expose both sides of the strap – both the top and under sides – while others expose only the strap’s top.

When one approaches the task of sandal strap design, it’s important to remember that we are talking about a set of straps that intersect each other and not a solitary strap; a system of straps that is integrated with a sole and is fastened on a leg that may be tanned or light-colored, fine and fragile or coarse and strong. The set of straps is cut at random from a continuous spool and there is no control over the direction in which it will be sewn or over which section will be seen in any part of the sandal.

We invite you to our site to discover all of SOURCE’s products, the way we see the world, and the values that drive us. You will get a sense of our various sandal styles and of the range of straps that appear on our site. You will also be able to glance at all of the models of sandal straps that make up our 2011 collection and 2012 collection.

One of the extraordinary things we have learned through personal experience over a decade of designing SOURCE straps is that there is no secret formula. It is unclear what makes one strap wildly successful while another simply doesn’t sell. The designer must decide whether to try to aim for an innovative or a traditional look, to connect with a techno look or to project a back to nature one, to create a strong presence or, on the contrary, one that is reserved. Perhaps the recipe for success is hidden in the combination and proportion of different characteristics. The challenge, at any rate, is to design a strap which will be relevant to the 2013 collection and will make people love the sandal in which it appears. The designer needs to remember that out of all clothing accessories, people tend to have the deepest emotional attachment to their footwear, perhaps because our feet are our foundation, our "connection" to the earth.

How the competition is organized

As in past years, SOURCE will set up a panel of judges responsible for choosing the winning designs. This panel will be composed of SOURCE management as well as external consultants. The panel of judges will give points to each of the entries as it sees fit. The designs that receive the highest ratings will go on to the next stage, in which the straps will be produced and used in prototypes. The prototypes will be shown to distributors, buyers and opinion leaders, and to the target market through product-focused surveys. Based on the responses, the panel of judges will select from 2 to 10 designs for the 2013 collection – these designs will appear as part of sandal models to be sold starting in January 2013, and will appear in SOURCE ’s catalogs and in various trade shows in the United States, Europe, Australia, and the Far East. We will inform every participant of who the winners are.

How to participate

In order to participate in the competition, first register . After registering, you will be able to use the platform that we developed based on the constraints of our weaving machine to assist in the design of the strap. You will be able to save your design work even if it is still in progress, and return to update it whenever you want. When you finish, you can send it to us online.

The Winners’ Reward

The competition winners – those whose designs will be included in the 2013 collection – will receive the following reward:
During the two seasons 2013 and 2014, every winning designer will receive $0.10 for each pair of sandals sold with his or her strap design. The period for this calculation begins on 1/1/2013 and ends on 31/12/2014. Payment will take place once per quarter based on our accounting system’s report of sandal sales. For example, if from 1/1/2013 to 31/3/2013 total of 10,000 sandals with designs from a certain designer will be sold, the designer will receive: 10,000 * 0.10$ = 1,000$ .Our success will be your success. The more sandals that are sold – the higher the payment your design will receive. In addition to remuneration, this is an opportunity for direct contact with an enormous market that will "speak its mind" about your design.

Timetable

August 1, 2011 – start of the 2013 Sandal Strap Collection Contest.
September 10, 2011, 21:00 GMT – the contest close, deadline for entering designs.
September 30, 2011 – the date designs to be used in prototypes will be chosen.
March 1, 2012 – winning designs will be announced.