Patent ID: 7987617

Claim:
A method of customizing an article of footwear, comprising the steps of: providing a graphical interface system for designing a footwear representation; receiving a design including a footwear representation with a customized design; receiving a selected medium from a list of types of mediums to be used to apply the customized design; using the selected medium to apply the customized design to one of a lateral side portion and a medial side portion according to the footwear representation; providing a kit including the lateral side portion, the medial side portion, a sole portion, a lace, and a set of instructions for assembling the article of footwear; and wherein the lateral side portion, the medial side portion, and the sole portion are configured to be attached using the lace to assemble an article of footwear according to the set of instructions and wherein the lateral side portion and the medial side portion both include a plurality of lacing holes configured to receive the lace to be used to adjustably tighten the assembled article of footwear between an open position and a closed position, the lateral side portion and the medial side portion being pulled closer together by the lace in the closed position than in the open position.