We recently connected with Dalian Williams and have shared our conversation below.
Dalian, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I’ve worked on was a pair of sneakers I customized for one of my former students. This project actually came to be when I first began customizing sneakers as a hobby. During the early part of 2023, I started posting my journey of learning how to hand-paint sneakers on Instagram. I posted a few pairs of my own old sneakers I’d experimented on with different designs.
One of my former students came across my posts, and he reached out asking if I would make him a pair; I eagerly agreed. He shared a few design ideas and his shoe size. Then, I went out, purchased the sneakers, and I got to work. At the time he asked, there were a lot of big life transitions happening for me. I was between jobs, and unsure which direction to go next with my career; I was planning my second cross-country move within three years; and I was getting ready to take my LSATs and begin my next academic journey. There were a lot of pieces of my life all moving at the same time, and I couldn’t necessarily “afford” to add anything extra to my plate – but I chose to anyway.
When people asked me what made me tell him yes, my answer was simple: “I said yes because be asked.” He was the first person to see my art, and enjoy it enough to want a pair for himself. He was the first to believe in my ability to execute his vision. He was my first “client” as an artist. I also told him yes, because he was confident enough to ask in the first place. I really admire that quality and encourage it, especially among children. As people, we miss so many opportunities, simply because somewhere along the line, we learned to be afraid to ask for things. It was the perfect opportunity to positively reinforce the value of speaking up for yourself and the things you want in life.
This project is meaningful to me not only because it was my first ever client request, but also because it inspired my “back-to-school” sneaker series. Each year, I purchase and customize sneakers for 2-4 of my students. This year, my students will be graduating and going on to high school. My goal is to be able to customize a pair of sneakers for each of them to have as they step into their respective high school hallways. As someone who wore a uniform for my entire k12 experience, I was always excited to pick out new sneakers. It was the only part of my school outfit that I actually got to choose and I’ve always loved expressing myself through my shoes. I want to be able to give my students – and honestly, as many students as possible, the chance to feel that same excitement and confidence as they walk the hallways; and I want them to be able to do so in their own unique way.
Dalian, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a custom footwear artist and the founder of Designed By Day. I upcycle shoes of all kinds to create unique, 1 of 1 products for my clients. My customizing journey began about two years ago as a hobby. I was simply looking for something fun to do with my old sneakers I wasn’t quite ready to get rid of as yet. I’ve been a sneakerhead for as long as I can remember. As a child, I would spend my free time designing sneakers on all the shoe websites that had a “personalize” feature. Though my designs never made it off the computer screen, I remember how excited I felt being able to create something.
I’ve always considered myself a “creative”. Growing up I sang, danced, and played instruments. However, I didn’t get into drawing and painting until much later, when I became a teacher. I started drawing to make anchor charts more visually appealing for my students. Over time, art became a staple activity in my classroom for my students and me; it was how we reset and grounded ourselves. Even then, I didn’t think much of my artistic abilities beyond it being something I enjoyed doing for fun. I didn’t start taking my art abilities seriously until the end of that school year, when I decided to make character portraits for each of my students. They were getting promoted to middle school, and I wanted to gift them something special.
Several of them had asked me for drawings throughout the year, so it seemed like a perfect, unique way to commemorate their last year in elementary school and leave them with something that reminded them of our cohort. This project took significantly more work than I’d originally anticipated, but it ultimately led me to the realization that my art had the potential to be more than a classroom hobby – that it was a skill I could actually develop. A few months later, I decided to combine my long time love for sneakers, with my new found passion for art. Thus, “Designed By Day” came to be.
The thing I’m most proud of accomplishing with my art is being able to gift several of my students customized sneakers of their own. As an educator passionate about serving under-resourced communities, it feels like a unique way to give positive reinforcement and support beyond the scope of academics. This is what I believe distinguishes me from my peers; Designed By Day isn’t just another “cool sneaker platform” – it’s a platform that encourages excellence in education.
My slogan is “delight in the details” and while, yes, it applies to how I approach my customizations, it also applies to how I approach life. There’s so much beauty to be found in the world, and we miss so much of it by being laser-focused on the “big picture”, and forgetting about all the details that come together to make it beautiful. To me, each person is a unique detail, and we all fit together in God’s big beautiful image. I want each person who encounters Designed By Day to feel confident in all that makes them unique; and to see themselves as an important part of that beautiful image.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think something non-creatives struggle to understand about my journey is why I’m so willing to create and produce, without always receiving monetary compensation. As a creative, making a living off of our work can be a difficult process in and of itself; so the idea of willingly doing projects without compensation can seem bizarre, even to other creatives. However, my approach is one I learned from my parents. They started a transportation business when I was in early elementary school and something my father would do that has always stood out to me, was help purchase vehicles for the new drivers in our family and church congregation. Both of my parents are immigrants, who moved to America in adulthood. They were by no means rich, nor did they have an abundance of resources to pull from; they didn’t own a single bus at this time. Nonetheless, they still saw the value in pouring into others and choosing to help even when it wasn’t lucrative or convenient. Fast forward 20 years later, they have a successful transportation company and own an entire fleet of buses.
This taught me that when you pour into others and give out of a genuine place, those blessings come back to you tenfold. And while this may not be a feasible path for all creatives, I see it as a blessing to have the privilege of letting it be mine. Because while my art hasn’t made me rich – yet, it’s given me the chance to give something beautiful to others. And to me, that’s ultimately what art is about. It’s not about the money, or what you can get out of it; it’s about the experience you can give to others.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was the lesson that I should only make public that which is perfect. I realized early in my creative journey, that what I thought was an obsession with perfection, was actually a fear of others seeing me be imperfect. I’d learned that my mistakes and missteps weren’t something to broadcast, and I internalized that to the point that I was afraid to do anything at all unless I knew for a fact that I could do it “perfectly.”
In reflection, there are probably quite a few things I missed out on in life because of this fear. I was so hesitant to share my work and begin accepting commissions, despite having customized sneakers for several other people by this point. I felt like I still needed to keep practicing and perfecting my craft before I could accept any paid commissions. Then, another creative challenged my mindset.
She showed me how my efforts to continue “perfecting” my craft, could also hold me back from real growth. And how missteps are also an important aspect of refining my craft – and she was right. Had I not adjusted my mindset after this conversation, I probably wouldn’t have launched my creative platform as early as I did. Which could’ve resulted in me missing out in my first paid commission, or not learning how to make engaging social media content, or all the lessons I learned from the sneakers I was able to create because I chose to put myself out there. Unlearning my fear of imperfection has opened more doors than being obsessed with perfection ever has, and I’m grateful that creating, was the catalyst for this mindset shift.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: designed.by.day
- Facebook: Day Williams
- Other: Tiktok: @designed.by.day
