Infographic Research

When I first chose the topic for my icons,  I picked cultural shoes over a more contemporary set because of my interest in learning about their history. Getting started on my research for the infographic, I was excited to be able to come back to that initial idea. I immediately found myself coming up with ideas for time and location categories due to the nature of my icons (two of the connotations being history and culture).

TIME
1. Occasions or events in which shoes are worn.
2. Time period which each shoe was created and used.
3. How long each shoe has been around (and is it still in use today).

LOCATION
1. Country where each shoe originated
2. Places where each shoe is worn

After a bit of research within the topics I had for both time and location categories, I decided that country origin would be a good direction-- and that the places the shoes are worn within these cultures could possibly come in with secondary information.

ZORI (Origin: Japan)
- Zori allow for free circulation of air around the feet, a feature which possibly came about due to the humid climate of Japan.
- Zori are designed to slip on and off easily, important in a culture where shoes are constantly removed and put back on.

Source: wikipedia

WOODEN CLOGS (Origin: Netherlands)
- The traditional, all wooden Dutch clogs have been officially labeled as safety shoes, passing European standards for the CE mark. Clogs are still widely worn by workers as protective clothing in factories, mines and farms.
- The wood absorbs perspiration and the wearer's feet are always surrounded by fresh air inside the wooden shoes. Lancashire cotton mill workers habitually wore clogs because of the wet floors maintained in the cotton mills.
- Wooden shoes are cool in summer and warm in winter.

Source: wikipedia, cloggie shop

TURKISH SLIPPERS (Origin: Turkey)
- Backless slippers have a practical function: they're easy to slip off before entering a house of worship, where shoes are forbidden.
- The curved Turkish toe was regarded as a yardstick of the wearer's wealth, based on its length. At the height of this trend, shoes measured up to 30 inches from heel to toe.

Source: "Shoes" by Linda O'Keeffe

MOCCASINS (Origin: North America)
- The construction of deerskin moccasins permitted swift easy movement. Moccasins are light and allow the wearer to be virtually soundless when walking.
- Decorative shells, colorful beads and dyed porcupine quills were attached in designs unique to each tribe. People could often tell each other's tribal affiliation simply from the design of their shoes.
- Allow the wearer to feel the ground while offering protection. Plains Indians had hard-sole moccasins because the ground they walked on was rocky while eastern tribes had soft-sole moccasins for walking on the leaf-covered ground in a forest.

Source: "Shoes" by Linda O'Keeffe, Wikipedia, Native American Moccasins

LOTUS SHOES (Origin: China)
- Very small feet had been admired by the Chinese society long before footbinding existed. Despite their misshapen appearance, Lotus feet were looked upon as the most erotic part of a woman's body.
- A Golden Lotus, a foot no longer than three inches, was the cultural ideal.

Source: "Shoes" by Linda O'Keeffe

HUARACHE (Origin: Mexico)
- Huaraches are typically hand-made and many would argue that to truly be considered a huarache they have to be hand-made. Because of this, it is true that you never find an identical pair. Owners embrace the fact that each sandal is unique and slightly different from it's other half.
- Throughout the years, they were a low cost form of footwear, popular among Mexican villagers and peasants in a typically warm region.

Source: huarache.com, about.com


I guess one of the things I'm trying to figure out is exactly what kind of facts I should be looking up based on my category. I want the facts to relate to both the shoe's country of origin and the shoe itself, so I tried to focus on the functionality of the shoe based on geography and climate, or the design of the shoe based on the location's cultural ideals. What I'm not sure about is whether or not these facts still relate to the category "location". If I'm veering a little off track, then I'll probably need to revise my research or category before moving on.