ytrends on the weekends

Many of you might know us from our trend information, yet recently we have also been very active in providing training for both aspiring and professional footwear de-signers. We noticed that there is a big gap in the market for footwear specific courses. During the past months many of our customers have asked us for short courses that will fit their busy work schedules. That is why we are now introducing YTRENDS ON THE WEEKENDS: short but intensive workshops that each take only one weekend.

The courses will take place in The Netherlands, but since these are on Saturdays and Sundays this also allows people from our neighbouring countries to join. We are happy to help you find hotel accommodation for your budget. Classes are taught in English and/or Dutch.

All classes will involve both theory and practice. If we would simply talk to you for two days straight we know your brains would be fried, so you will receive no more than two hours of theory in a row, after which you will immediately put this knowledge into practice, before moving on to the next subject. All classes will be taught by experts with extensive international experience in the footwear business, providing knowledge that is very practical and up-to-date.

We won’t allow more than 10 students per class, since we want to be able to give everyone personal attention. We realize that each student has a different background, so we will tweak each class to your needs as much as possible.

In this brochure you will find the classes we are teaching over the coming weeks. Should you be interested, but are not available on the planned dates, you are welcome to contact us to schedule another time. We can also teach during the week and in the evenings and if you would prefer that we teach a course at your company, we are happy to make you a price offer for that. We can provide any course catered specifically to your needs and level.

To apply for any of the courses, please send an email with your full contact details to [email protected]. We will then send you the application form. Course fees should be paid in advance to secure your application. To keep things simple we have set a fixed price of € 750 per person per weekend. If you want to attend several weekends, the following discounts apply:2 weekends: 5% discount3 or 4 weekends: 10% discount5 weekends: 15% discount

Ytrends on the Weekends!

Adobe Illustrator is software that will help you present your design sketches in a very professional way. It will also speed up the process of sketching, since you can simply copy elements that remain the same in each style, you can colour parts with only one click and it allows you to quickly and precisely draw details like stitching and hardware. Most manufacturers now require design sketches to be delivered in Illustrator (ai) format.

Please understand though that Illustrator does not make drawings for you. You will still have to draw yourself and the technique used in the software will take some practice.

The advantage of taking this course rather than a gen-eral Illustrator course is that you will only learn the skills you need for footwear design, so you won’t be wasting time on things you won’t use anyway. After this weekend you will be able to draw shoes - including hardware and several kinds of stitching - and to apply colour.

For those of you who already have some prior know-ledge of Illustrator, we will also include more advanced subjects like applying gradients, prints and materials.

Dates:November 19 and 20, from 09:30 to 17:30

Location:Ytrends studio in Amsterdam or in Waalwijk, depending on where most students come from.

Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a multi-media digital syllabus to help you practice at home after the course. There is a maximum of 10 students per course, so we can offer everyone enough personal attention.

Requirements:No previous knowledge of the software is required, but you will have to bring your own laptop (either PC or Mac) with Adobe Illustrator already installed, using ver-sion CS2 or higher! You can use a mouse, but if you are intending to use the software in your daily practice, we recommend you use a pen tablet (Wacom). You can also try one out during the course if you like.

Illustrator basics for shoe designers

Photoshop Basics for shoe designersDates:November 26 and 27, from 09:30 to 17:30


Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a multi-media digital syllabus to help you practice at home after the course. There is a maximum of 10 students per course, so we can offer everyone enough personal attention.

Requirements:No previous knowledge of the software is required, but you will have to bring your own laptop (either PC or Mac) with Adobe Photoshop already installed, using version CS2 or higher! Having some prior knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is an advantage. You can use a mouse, but if you are intending to use the software in your daily practice, we recommend you use a pen tablet (Wacom). You can also try one out during the course if you like.

We intentionally offer the Adobe Photoshop course right after the Illustrator one. This is because Photoshop offers great options for colouring up the sketches you made in Illustrator. You can use Illustrator to colour as well, but if you would like your drawings to look photorealistic, you will achieve a much better result in Photoshop.

Making your sketches look like actual photographs will help you tremendously in getting your ideas across to others, both to your manufacturers and to sales and marketing. You will have a much better chance that your designs won’t be dropped and will end up looking exactly like you intended.

In this basic Photoshop course we will focus only on colouring Illustrator drawings. We will provide these for you, but you can also bring your own. You will learn how to apply colours, textures, materials, stitching and hardware in a professional and highly efficient way, so you can alter them quickly, which is helpful if you need to colour a full range of designs. You will also learn how to make your designs look 3D, using a variety of lighting and shadow effects. If you want to learn how to edit pho-tographs of shoes rather than sketches, you can follow the advanced Photoshop course (see final page).

People often end up being a footwear designer while coming from a different business, such as apparel or industrial design. And those who have had a proper footwear education, have little possibility to update their knowledge over time. That is why we are offering a workshop to provide and/or update basic technical footwear knowledge.

On the first day we will focus on lasts and various constructions, while on the second day we will look into materials. All classes will include the latest information, looking beyond traditional shoe making methods and beyond just leather. We will explain which construction and/or material is best suitable for which kind of shoes and we will pay attention to sustainable alternatives. We will cover men’s and women’s shoes and sneakers.

We will work on recognizing construction and material on swatches and complete shoes. This is a relatively theoretical course, although we will make it as practi-cal as possible. After this weekend you will have an understanding of the most common modern footwear construction methods and materials.

Dates:December 3 and 4, from 09:30 to 17:30


Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a digital syllabus . There is a maximum of 10 students. We recom-mend you buy the book “Everything about Shoes”. This costs € 90 and is not included in the price. You can order the book through us.

Requirements:Although most of our courses are specifically for shoe designers, this one is suitable for anyone who needs to understand footwear, including people involved in sales and marketing. No prior knowledge of footwear is re-quired, yet we will make sure the course is also attractive for those who already have experience. You only need to bring a pen, paper and a camera. This course can be combined very well with the workshops on the next page.

Modern footwear knowledge

Designing details and brandingWhenever we teach footwear design, we notice how students focus on big things, like last and heel shape. Yet for commercial shoes the difference usually lies in the details, such as fastenings, logo treatments, trimming, stitching and hardware. If you are able to cleverly play with details you will greatly enhance the commercial potential of any collection.

On the first day of this course you will receive technical knowledge of a wide range of possible details, from all kinds of hardware, to methods of printing, laminating, lasering, embossing, stitching, embroidering etc. You will then use this knowledge to improve existing designs. You can either bring your own designs, or we will provide examples for you.

The second day of the course focuses on branding. Understanding how to apply logos, both on upper, inside and outsole, is a required skill for all designers, espe-cially if you are in the sneaker business. We will not only discuss technical methods of applying logo treatments, but will also focus on how to use logos attractively and consistently throughout your collection. Again, you will apply the knowledge to improve existing designs, adding original, practical and recognizable branding.



Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a digital syllabus. There is a maximum of 10 students.

Requirements:This course is meant for professional footwear designers and advanced shoe design students; you will need to have a least a basic knowledge of how shoes are made in order to get the full benefit of the class. We will be mak-ing and altering designs during the class. You can do this in Illustrator/Photoshop on your own laptop, or you can simply sketch by hand. Please bring pencils and a sketch book. You are also welcome to bring any designs - either sketches or samples - that you would like to review during the course. This is not a course in graphic design though: we will work with existing logos, not design them.

With the current economic crises and the rising prices on the material market, most brands are pushing their designers to create shoes that are inexpensive to make, in order to preserve a profitable margin. However, many designers have little knowledge of cost factors, so often a developer and/or manufacturer will alter a design to make it cheaper. This can lead to shoes that look unattractive though and won’t sell, leaving everybody unhappy.

To prevent situations like this we are offering a course to explain footwear designers the basics of how manufac-turers calculate a price and what are the main factors affecting the production costs of a shoe. This workshop will be given by developers with extensive experience in both Asia and Southern Europe. They will explain produc-tion processes and the current market prices of various materials and constructions, both for uppers and soles.

With this knowledge, the students are then challenged to make designs cheaper, while preserving the intended look and feel. This way we will show how you can come to creative and successful solutions to reduce costs. Students are invited to bring their own samples and/or designs, but we will also provide several examples.



Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a digital syllabus.

Requirements:This course is meant for professional footwear designers and advanced shoe design students; you will need to have a least a basic knowledge of how shoes are made in order to get the full benefit of the class. We will be making and altering designs during the class. You can do this in Illustrator/Photoshop on your own laptop, or you can simply sketch by hand. Please bring pencils and a sketch book. You are also welcome to bring any designs - either sketches or samples - that you would like to review during the course. This workshop combines very well with Designing Details and Branding!

Designing to reduce costs

In this course we will expand on the knowledge taught in Photoshop Basics. Rather than colouring Illustrator sketches we will alter photographs of existing shoes. This is especially useful for altering carry overs, for trend presentations and to quickly visualize ideas.

We will teach you how to use a multitude of skills and effects to completely change colour, material, texture, details and even the shape of an existing shoe. You are welcome to bring samples of shoes you want to alter; we will teach you how to best photograph them to prepare for alterations.

Furthermore, we will teach you techniques to make professional mood boards using Photoshop, speeding up the process of making attractive presentations, whilst creating a highly professional look.

At Ytrends we have probably made more highly advanced footwear presentations than anyone else in the world, so you will be taught unique knowledge that you can’t find anywhere else. This course is suitable for footwear designers and for those who are active in trend forecasting.

Dates:January 7 and 8, 2012, from 09:30 to 17:30


Costs:€ 750 per person (excl. 19% VAT for Dutch students); this includes the classes, coffee and tea, lunch and a multi-media digital syllabus to help you practice at home after the course. There is a maximum of 10 students.

Requirements:You are required to have prior knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, for instance because you have followed Photoshop Basics. Having some prior knowledge of Adobe Illustrator is an advantage. If you apply for this course we will contact you to determine your current level. You should bring your own laptop (PC or Mac) with Photoshop CS2 or higher already installed! You can use a mouse, but we recommend you use a pen tablet (Wacom). You can also try one out during the course if you like. Please bring a photo camera as well.

Photoshop Advanced for shoe designers

ytrends on the weekends

Documents