Freelance Footwear Designer & Passivhaus Consultant

Amanda Blackwell

Leeds, United Kingdom

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About

Freelance work includes both Footwear projects and Passive House consultancy.

Following the completion of our low-energy self build and taking the PassivHaus designer course I'm now a Certified Passive House Consultant. I'm interested in domestic scale projects and particularly in helping self-builders towards the best home for their budget.

I still work at my long-term career as a footwear designer. Recently I've been working on orthopedic footwear and am interested in designing footwear for diabetics. I'm fantastic with Illustrator and pretty good on PhotoShop.

I really enjoy doing technical and eco-friendly footwear and children's footwear - see coroflot.com/blackwell for examples.
Education
- Diploma in Footwear Design & Technology Footwear
  
  The Cordwainer's College
  
  1979 - 1982
- Foundation course in Art Art
  
  Liverpool John Moores University
  
  1977 - 1978
  
  The old Foundation year in Art in the building in Hope Place
Experience
- Certified Passive House Consultant
  
  Freelance
  
  May 2012 - Present (14 years 1 month)
  
  Passivhaus, Passive House or passiv haus? They're all the same! Passivhaus is the leading international low energy design standard. The official Passivhaus Institute is headquartered in Germany, and they translate it as Passive House in English. However the British Passivhaus trust http://passivhaustrust.org/ use the German spelling. Main point is I've done the training, passed the exam and am helping people build or remodel their homes using Passivhaus principles to save money and energy. More info at www.blackwell-design.co.uk
- Designer
  
  Ortho-Europe
  
  Jan 2012 - Present (14 years 5 months)
  
  A three-day-a-week venture. Working in an great little factory making orthopaedic footwear and still freelancing -
- Freelance Footwear Designer
  
  -
  
  Jan 2010 - Present (16 years 5 months)
  
  My main job for rmany years, before developing a taste for green building. I'm still very busy designing footwear for clients from around the world. I love finding the right design for my clients and working with them to source the product and bring it to market.
  
  Specialist in technical and comfort footwear having worked with Goretex and Vibram with a soft spot for children's shoes. portfolio at www.coroflot.com/blackwell
- Designer
  
  Pavers shoes
  
  Sep 2010 - Dec 2011 (1 year 3 months)
  
  3 days a week here in York and 2 days at home to persue other projects including a new range of Children's shoes for a company in New York.
  
  Currently working with factories in India, Italy and China.
- Footwear Designer
  
  Hotter
  
  Jun 2008 - Jul 2010 (2 years 1 month)
  
  Just 2 days a week, (I'm not really into a five day trans-pennine commute and had a house-project on the go) Loved the job,it's a very interesting company to work for. Now that I've left I miss all my great workmates. Plenty of my designs still on their website.
- Designer
  
  Bacup Shoe company
  
  Dec 2006 - Dec 2007 (1 year)
  
  A fast paced job hurtling through footwear designs for Marks and Spencer, BHS, Monsoon, Tesco and most of High Street UK. Lots of licensed product - Simpsons, Disney etc. etc. It was fun putting their characters to work though and I learnt to work smarter and faster.
  
  However on the whole I prefer to work on quality footwear that is well crafted and thoughtfully designed - hopefully a more sustainable product.
- Designer
  
  Brasher
  
  2001 - 2006 (5 years)
  
  The sole (haha) designer for this growing outdoor footwear brand which is part of the Pentland Group. They are still selling my designs.....
- Designer
  
  Berghaus
  
  Mar 1999 - Dec 2000 (1 year 9 months)
  
  This company makes fantastic outdoor gear. I just helped by designing the footwear. Part of the Pentland Group, I followed my boss to Brasher.
- Technical Design Manager
  
  Reebok
  
  Aug 1997 - Dec 1998 (1 year 4 months)
  
  Based in Bangkok I travelled to their factories across Thailand to make sure the shoes we made followed the intentions of the US design team.
- Designer
  
  Clarks
  
  1990 - 1997 (7 years)
  
  Footwear design and CADCAM design engineer, training others to use the Shoemaster CAD system.
- Designer
  
  NC Graphics
  
  1989 - 1991 (2 years)
  
  The company guinea pig - I'd never used a computer but I was the resident specialist in footwear design and development.
- Designer
  
  Bata Shoe Company
  
  1982 - 1989 (7 years)
  
  Moved to France, USA, Italy and finally back to the UK. A great time!
Skills
- Fashion Design
- Illustration
Elsewhere on the Web
- n
On Coroflot

@Blackwell, member since 2008

Amanda Blackwell

Branded Environments Project Manager

Industrial Designer, Packaging – Lead