Thomas Cole

After years spent rehabbing his feet from the rigours of high-level basketball, Bachelor of Design in Product Design student Thomas Cole knew exactly what he wanted to create for his honours-year project.

And, in November 2023, in front of a room full of industry leaders at the UTS Design Honours Showcase, he presented the results: the Cole Recovery 2, a bespoke, 3D-printed shoe designed to help people recover from pain and injury.

“The shoes are customised to my feet using specific data of gait and pressure distribution. This data-driven design leads to a better recovery experience,” says Thomas, who used the Blender software platform to conceive of his initial concept.

“As a basketball player, I was surrounded by that kind of sports culture and the issues that come with recovery footwear.

“I just looked at what was available, and I thought, I reckon I can do that better.”

Design evolution

As the name suggests, the Cole Recovery 2 is the second iteration of an earlier project — the Cole Recovery — that Thomas produced in his third year of study. But, although both projects have similar names, they’re markedly different.

“The Cole Recovery was about pure assumptions and using my product design skills to make a shoe,” Thomas says.

“With the Cole Recovery 2, I wanted to be very methodical about it and to have an eventual design where every single element had meaning, choice and purpose behind it.”

Recovery shoes are intended for wear after exercise to assist with healing and injury prevention. The Cole Recovery 2 is characterised by a lattice insole and a moulded upper to cushion the foot after exertion, and a series of vents around the exterior to help the wearer cool down.  

The design can be adapted to what Thomas calls the ‘movement tendencies’ of each individual wearer — that is, where each person puts pressure on their feet, ankles and lower legs based on the unique shape of their foot, how they move and the activities they’re doing.

A course that fosters skills and innovation

That Thomas had the capabilities to produce such a complex piece of work is a testament to the UTS Product Design course. The degree is known for producing practical, highly skilled graduates with diverse expertise across the many areas of product design.

In fact, Thomas says, the chance to explore so many facets of product design played a key role in his decision to come to UTS in the first place.  

“We do a lot of industrial design and sketching, but we also do UX, we also do app design, we also do robotics,” he says.

“I just thought yeah, cool, this is what I like.”  

What he also came to value, he says, was that in his Design Honours year, he was encouraged to step outside of his comfort zone while having the support of the teaching team.

For Thomas, who has a clear-eyed view of where he wants life to take him, this balance was integral to helping him continue to push the boundaries of his skills development.

In one class, he says, his Honours tutor constantly challenged him to articulate the why of his design decisions — why this material? Why this approach?

“I’d never really had anyone push back at me,” he says.

“Every single time, in a three-hour class, he’d spend 20-30 minutes with me questioning me about my process.”

Now, Thomas asks himself those same questions when he works — why am I making this choice? What’s the purpose of this design element? How does this serve the end user?

It’s a process that has undoubtedly enhanced his design practice. In turn, he says, he hopes those high-level skills will increase his chances of landing a job as a shoe designer with a big-name company.  

And if the 2023 Design Honours showcase was anything to go by, the product design world is already taking notice.  

"Seeing people look at my work and smile and go, ‘Oh wow, that’s really cool’ — that was probably the most enjoyable thing,” he says.  

“There was an overwhelming support for everyone — it was really good to see.” 

Thomas was mentored through his Honours project by Rod Walden and Dr Stefan Lie.