Rachael Noon

About Rachael Noon

I had no idea being a collegiate cheerleader would change my career path entirely. During my undergrad years at Iowa State, I cheered on the collegiate co-ed cheer squad for four years. Iowa State is a Nike school and I had to wear Nike Cheer Shoes. Once I entered grad school, my design thesis was redesigning cheer shoes due to their performance flaws. This led me to the start of my career in footwear at Wolverine\'s R&D lab building 3D prototypes to 2D patterns. Later, we moved to California for my husband\'s career, where I returned to graphic design at Electronic Arts. Eventually, we made it to Portland, where I was excited to return to a career in footwear. After being unsuccessful in switching back to footwear, I returned to school to study footwear in The Netherlands at SLEM. I spent my studies in Europe, one trimester working in factories in China, while building shoes to support my graduate project. After graduating, I worked at Friton Designs, a freelance footwear shop run by retired and former Nike employees. When a Concept Creator position opened at Nike I was well prepared for multiple interviews and a week of building shoes to show my skill set. I am ecstatic to be a Footwear Maker for the brand, innovation and Nike athletes, especially after making a strong commitment to shifting my career direction. Nike cheer shoes changed my career. I hope to continue to make better Nike Cheer shoes as well as other undeserved Women\'s footwear for future athletes.

Experience

1. Footwear Pattern Engineer

   adidas

   Nov 2023 — Present · Portland, OR, US

   Report to Advanced Concepts to create footwear patterns that support the Innovation, Inline, Athlete Services and Testing teams through the sample room to build prototypes and footwear samples. Continue to sustain the team’s software integration with new tools and features for patterning products while coaching teammates on fit accuracy.

Education

• Iowa State University

  Master's of Art and Design

  2009 — 2011

• SLEM Innovation & Training Institute for footwear and leather related industries - Waalwijk

  Master's Degree

  2014 — 2015

• Iowa State University

  Bachelors of Arts

  2004 — 2009

Skills

• Graphic Application
• Fabrication
• Brand Development
• Footwear Innovation
• Advertising
• Graphics
• Footwear
• Pattern Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Photoshop
• Graphic Design
• Athletic Footwear
• Branding & Identity
• Shoemaking
• Logo Design
• Product Innovation
• Packaging
• Typography
• Industrial Sewing
• Production Design
• Product Design
• Illustration
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Visual Communication