Work History
• Supporting the men’s design team with totally new, new upper, and seasonal color & material footwear designs in the dress, dress casual, and outdoor space.
• Responsibilities include everything from initial concept development through CAM and Techpack file creation.
COLE HAAN
Freelance Footwear Designer
November 2023-Current
KEEN
Footwear Designer - Utility
August 2021-September 2023
• Designed totally new inline CSA & ASTM certified industrial footwear across all utility categories including light duty athletic, 'IndusTrail' hike inspired work footwear, and direct attach American Built.
• Designed key seasonal styles like the SS23 Arvada program focusing on attracting a younger consumer to the brand with more progressive color, a faster more modern design aesthetic, and leveraging familiar manufacturing processes common in the athletic footwear industry.
• Worked closely with product management and sales to deliver special make-up styles specific to accounts in the athletic utility category.
• Assisted the larger design team across all categories at KEEN with product concepts when needed culminating in styles being brought to market in categories outside of Utility like the NXIS Explorer.
• Helped to manage the adoption of 3D rendering and 3D modeling into our team's product creation workflow.
VF Workwear
Footwear Designer B - Kodiak, Terra, Dickies Brands
March 2018-August 2021
• Designing inline industrial and lifestyle footwear programs as outlined by product briefs across three newly acquired VF brands with a workload of 10-18 new uppers and 2-3 new outsole tools per season.
• Worked closely with product management to evolve and modernize three brand’s legacy product lines with unique / competitive product & innovation stories while staying true to brand DNA.
• Collaborated with development to achieve duty favorable constructions, cost engineered product, and value materials while still meeting high safety standards and design vision.
• Established design languages, unique-to-brand identities, and 'best practices' including environmentally considered material requirements.
• Created seasonal product colorways, reviewed and edited upper shell patterns and tooling blueprints, and supported marketing with photoshop and illustrator generated product imagery.
VF Global Innovation center
Junior Footwear Designer - Timberland, Vans, The North Face
January 2018 - March 2018
• Supported a team of Designers, Engineers, and Developers on projects for Timberland, The North Face, and Vans.
• Designed performance footwear concepts around emerging manufacturing technologies.
• Created concept renderings, research documents, project frameworks, and exploratory prototypes.
Timberland
Outdoor Footwear Design Intern
January. 2017 - January 2018
• Designed and developed footwear concept drawings, renderings and prototypes based on product design briefs and market analysis to meet consumer requirements and align with the brand for F18 - F19 seasons.
• Collaborated with the development department to maintain a practical concern for technical processes and manufacturing requirements.
• Assisted in completing CAD revisions, seasonal color-ups, technical packages, graphics, and trim details.
• Participated in classes pertaining to construction and manufacturing of footwear.
• 6 new upper patterns adopted for Spring 2019 season. (5 Outdoor team, 1 Value team)
• New upper designs for Kid’s Snow Stomper program adopted for Fall 2018 season in NA & EMEA markets.
• Volunteered 40 hours alongside co-workers on community focused improvement projects in the New Hampshire and Massachusetts area.
Design Lynx
Industrial Designer
May 2014 - December 2016
Industrial designer, design researcher, in-house electronics tinkerer, and office DJ for a start-up design firm that assists companies of all sizes through every stage of creative product design. I have had the pleasure of working on client projects ranging from aftermarket car parts and consumer electronics to sporting goods and even kids toys. Such a diverse client base, has allowed me to develop strong skills in areas like ethnographic research, market analysis, concept generation, sketching, physical prototyping, and 3D modeling.
• Lead team of Designers and Engineers through the creative design phase of client projects.
• Partnered with engineers to design manufacturable products for clients large and small.
• Generated soft good focused product concepts for internal sporting goods company Rival and Revel based on market trends and user needs analysis.
• Created SolidWorks models of automotive parts now available at market.
• Managed PGA show booth design and fabrication.
