Sneaker Graveyard
First off I’m really excited to say I am building Sneaker Graveyard with a bandmate of mine who is a website designer.
What happened was we were clearing out our bandroom (we both lost our jobs and there are just no shows to play due to the pandemic) . Web designers carry a very different vibe compared to the graphics peeps, he leans more on the technical side of things and pretty much keeps to himself a lot. I started just asking him how much he would charge if I were to do this and that, and out of my surprise he’s like “Ill join in!”, and that’s how this lil’ idea of mine is starting to materialise. So what I’ve learnt is that always talk to those around you..ive known Sam for like 5 years and never spoke of a single collaboration with him.Â
Sneakerheads
For the actual assignment, at first I am pretty much focused on wanting to own an archive of classics and learn more about models ive never seen before. Then I look at my own collection of around 30 pairs. 30, it might sound like a lot to some, but having read this article : https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1583787/sneakerheads-hong-kong-explain-their-unique-subculture
I found out that people keep like 100s at home and rent a space somewhere else to stock up on 1000s. In the article these are pretty much local celebrities and successful business owners, but for a guy like me living in a 350sqft apartment, I gather and with good care some of my oldest pairs have been around for 8 years creating some frustration for my fiancee. There are some models I have some sort of an emotional attachment to them and do not want them to go in to the bin, with that said I was sent a video by a buddy of mine, a pair of 10 year old AJ5s were taken out from a shoe box, it just crumbled in his hand…what a heart break.
Community
The intended success of Sneaker Graveyard is focused on a community of sneakerheads (believe me when I just say this, it is HUGE), and the confidence in having enough people posting on the site comes from the nature of sneaker heads loving to show off.Â
The sneaker heads around me are quite conservative, the conversation usually goes : Nice kicks, thx, where did you get em, story of how great a deal, the end. We believe there’s more to it, and that adding an extra emotional level to sneaker heads could be somewhat a stress reliever and a way for kicks lovers to express themselves more. Why do you like AirJordan 5s so much you have 20 sets of them? What was it like when your mom got you your first pair of sneakers?Â
Striking these conversations are going to be interesting, we do not really know what to expect yet ourselves.
Letting Go
So knowing im not alone and the fact that no sneakers last forever even if you don’t wear them…Sneaker Graveyard plays on the emotional attachment with sneakers and wants to help people let go of their “dead soles” by hosting a permanent platform where sneaker heads could honour their sneakers and properly let go by leaving a headstone with the sneaker’s photograph and a short reflective story to go along with.
Marie Kondo has become some what of an instructor in solving clustered homes, with Japanese Zen methods, she encourages people to properly send their old belongings off with something similar to a ritual, thanking objects for the good times serving and saying a proper goodbye. Sneaker Graveyard comes in line with this method and philosophy that was popularised in the US, this video of Marie Kondo is a great piece of evidence how Sneaker Graveyard could be positive for sneaker fans that need to let go.Â
On the Business Side of Things
There are 5 aspects in generating a revenue :
1 : Ads, I rather not have in order to keep a clean look.
2 : The platform is completely free and is public content in nature, yet before “your soles are send to a better place”, there is the option to set a proper headstone for a small price. We are expecting this to be similar purchasing behaviour to game items, or buying gifts for others in a chat rooms.Â
3 : Programmes such as: Nike’s Re-Use A Shoe & Got Sneakers are actively collecting used shoes, although un-certain of how this could be worked out at the moment, we could drive traffic to these programmes and on the flip side, direct people who have recently discarded shoes in getting a new pair.Â
https://www.nike.com/help/a/recycle-shoes
Got Sneakers
4 : Over a period of time, we would have collected a good amount of data such as : sneaker durability, purchasing intent, product use and most sought after models. This data could be poled, published or sold.
5 : Donations
Skipping Ahead
Having been so excited bout this project after talking to Sam, I built him a lil’ demo to see how he can build this site & what plugins we would have to be using.
Wanting it to look like an actual graveyard I leaned more towards white and greys with marbel texture, but is still considering if the street element should be played upon more. Since most websites now have drop menus and all kinds of functions and like 20 buttons, I want this to be different and user friendly: I designed this to be 1 flow, the usual “about us” is being shown the first thing when visiting, then the post wall is all there for people to enjoy with 1 big button for you to enter the submission flow, the submission is a simple form fill in and right afterwards you are shown the shop were you could have a better “headstone” for a few bucks.
The donation button is a disruption to the flow right now and I am considering moving it to the main page.
PS : The conversation with Sam started like 3 days ago and all work and thoughts here so far are all my own.
ANDY WAS HERE
ANDY was here 🤓 