josh wesley
Men's Footwear Lead Designer - Contract · TOMS Shoes
Portland, ORIn My Own Words
I am a passionate creative with a global market perspective who has over 15 years of experience bringing innovative products to life. I thrive best in collaborative environments with open communication that encourages constant evolution and improvement. My ultimate goal is to combine my passion for creativity, design, and athletics into a challenging and exciting role with a dynamic team.
Work Experience
Men's Footwear Lead Designer - Contract
TOMS Shoes2022 – 2023
- Footwear Ideation, Footwear Design, Tech-packing, Color & Material Inspiration, Color Cads, TN & NU style revisions (shell patterns, BP's, 3D files). - Partner with Merchandising on all milestone check-points, collectively review design briefs, discuss design opportunities, processes, and challenges. - Work close with the Development team to dial in products and trial new processes. - Communicate with Materials team to ensure quality and deadlines are met. - Provide creative solutions for price point challenges. - Collaborate with design team and assist in any needed areas. - Provide a consistent voice of reason, logic, and support.
Independent Design Professional
Footwear, Apparel, & Accessory Design Freelance - During Pandemic2020 – 2022
• I work with a select list of clients throughout the lifestyle, and action sports industries. • My primary focus is managing & creating footwear, apparel, and accessory product lines. • My management style is to observe, listen, and build trust. I create excitement by empowering teams through pride of ownership and self-accountability. This process is overseen by creating a fully transparent framework with milestones. • I identify opportunities in the market for expansion while re-energizing established styles and silhouettes. • I communicate closely with clients to limit confusion and unnecessary rounds of development. • Design work would include ideation, tech packing, seasonal color & material concepts, development-pre-production comments. • Proficient in refining paper patterns, molds, dies, blue prints, extensive knowledge in most construction types. • Travel to factories to speed up development times and trouble shoot technical concerns.
Design Manager - Contract
Over Medium Design - Agency2016 – 2019
• Worked with team to trouble shoot client needs & challenges. • Cross functional design lead: apparel and footwear categories. • Trend and color: provided direction briefs, color palettes , and technical breakdowns. • Worked closely with the team to maintain client relations and brand partnerships. • Worked with upper management to streamline internal processes. • Numerous collaborative projects with Contour&Co, aligning agency.
Lead Designer - Contract
Simple Shoes2017 – 2017
• Assisted in the rebuilding of the brands past product line as well as created future concepts. • Design Ideation, Tech-pack, Color Concepts, Pattern and BP revisions. • Created business opportunities for Owner, business relationships, potential partnerships, etc.
Design Manager
Diamond Supply Co.2015 – 2016
• In addition to my work with the footwear department I was given the opportunity to oversee the accessory team and product line. • Created product growth and profits, engaged overseas manufacturers to increase production capacity for both accessories and footwear products. • Help support cross functional department challenges and aided department managers when needed.
Design Director
Diamond Supply Co.2012 – 2016
• Directed all aspects of the product design & development process. Built two separate categories during my 4 years with the company. Created growth strategies, established and managed factory relations and partnered with outside agencies and in-house sales teams. • Responsible for all footwear milestones and presentations on behalf of the design department. • Approved sign off on all patterns, revisions, and blueprints. • Provided creative assets for the design team to include design briefs & line plans. • Provided guidance and support to footwear design team.
Design Director - Original Intent
DVS Shoe Company2008 – 2011
• Primary responsibility being the Direction of the Original Intent product line. This product line was the driving force behind the brands overall relevance and energy. • Interactive Design Director, Created all TN & NU Pro Athlete Footwear Models. Responsible for sign off on all shell pattern revisions and BP confirmations. • Consistently exceeded sell-through rates of 90%, while managing design product lines spanning up to 200 SKUs. • Worked closely with senior management, product development and merchandising teams to dial in seasonal product and timelines. • Oversaw 25 collaborative partnerships with leading brands in the skateboard and streetwear space. This maintained relevance, interest, and energy.
Senior Footwear Designer
DVS Shoe Company2006 – 2008
• As a Senior Designer, I was responsible for a sizable portion of the design workload. I worked closely with the Design Director to ensure the collective team was on track and able to meet deadlines. Acted as a mentor to assistant and mid-level designers. • Work Included: design ideation, renderings, tech-packs, color, material, story-telling, collaborations.
Footwear Designer
Adio Footwear2003 – 2006
• Rendered and tech-packed the Creative Director’s concepts. • The last two years in my position as Footwear Designer I was given the freedom to create my own design concepts. • Worked closely with high profile talent including Tony Hawk, Shawn White and Kenny Anderson, traveled with athletes on tours and to contests to gain an understanding of their technical needs.
Accessories Designer
Adio Footwear2001 – 2004
• As an Accessories Designer I sketched, rendered, tech-packed, colorized, materialized, and problem solved roughly 80 new skus a season. Product to Include: bags, hats, beanies, wallets, belts, keychains, gloves, scarfs, ect. • I worked close with the product manager and development team to trouble shoot any challenges.
