Li Boqian, a 31-year-old, works as a shoe designer (设计师) at Li-Ning YOUNG.
Li said that people often have misunderstandings toward shoe designers. “Shoe designing is not simply about making new shoes.” he said. “Shoe designers are like hunters, and we need to design shoes based on many elements like material, cost and use.”
“My job is to find the shoe design elements first with the help of a product manager. Product managers analyze (分析) the social market, the life style and customer preferences. My design depends on their work a lot.” he said.
Within one pair of shoes sits many ideas. And good shoe design needs a special theme; it helps people to understand the ideas behind it. For example, as outer space exploration gets popular worldwide, Li has taken part in designing a series of basketball shoes called Xian Feng Li based on this theme. “The whole shoe is inflated (充气的) like a space capsule (舱),” he said. “And the sole (鞋底) looks like the universe’s big bang.” It is warmly welcomed by the young people.
After designing a pair of shoes, Li passes his design on to the development team, which tries to make the product. “If problems appear, like the material I had in mind doesn’t work, or the cost is too much and so on,” Li said. “I will work on to improve my design together with them.”
Li believes that a good shoe designer should be always interested in the world and long for new ideas. “Sometimes, ideas take time to develop in our minds, so we need to be patient,” he said.
In Li’s eyes, it takes at least four years for a shoe designer to be independent. “It’s a long but worthwhile journey,” Li said. “When your idea helps the products or the brand to make a breakthrough (突破), you truly feel special.”
19. What does the underlined word “elements” mean in Paragraph 2?
20. Shoe designers can get help from the following ones EXPECT _________.
A.hunters | B.product managers | C.customers | D.development teams |
21. Why does the author mention the space-themed shoes in Paragraph 4?
A.To show Li’s excellent shoe designing talent. |
B.To give an example of a good shoe design theme. |
C.To show how popular outer space exploration is. |
D.To help make the series of basketball shoes popular. |
22. Li thinks a good shoe designer should be ________.
A.independent and helpful | B.special and serious |
C.creative and patient | D.careful and humorous |