Art Director

TAG - The Aspen Group•Chicago, IL

About The Position

The Aspen Group (TAG) is a leading retail healthcare business support organization. The Art Director, Graphic & Digital is a senior creative leader responsible for elevating the visual expression of the brand across all digital-first and integrated marketing touchpoints. This role sets the creative bar, translates brand and business strategies into compelling visual systems, and ensures best-in-class execution from concept through launch. The Art Director partners closely with the Creative Director, copy, marketing, UX, and development teams to drive cohesive, breakthrough creative while mentoring designers and guiding day-to-day design direction. This role balances hands-on design excellence with strategic thinking, art direction, and team leadership.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Art/Graphic Design, Marketing, Communications, or a related field.
8–14 years of experience in graphic design with a strong digital focus, including experience in an art direction or design leadership role.
Proven track record delivering integrated creative solutions from concept through execution.
Strong, digitally focused portfolio demonstrating brand systems, campaign thinking, and art direction.
Expert proficiency in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite; solid experience with basic video, motion, and photo retouching.
Strong communication, collaboration, and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate creative rationale to stakeholders.
Highly adaptable, proactive, and comfortable navigating ambiguity in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

Own and elevate the visual direction for campaigns, initiatives, and always-on brand expressions across digital, social, web, email, in-store, and select print touchpoints.
Translate brand strategy, campaign objectives, and audience insights into clear creative direction, visual systems, and compelling storytelling.
Set and maintain a high bar for design quality, ensuring consistency, craft, and innovation across all outputs.
Review, refine, and approve creative work to ensure alignment with brand standards and creative excellence before delivery.
Lead the development and evolution of style guides, visual frameworks, and design systems in partnership with the Creative Director.
Partner with creative team members to concept integrated, digital-first marketing ideas that break through clutter and drive engagement.
Lead visual ideation sessions, bringing forward fresh perspectives, cultural relevance, and emerging design trends.
Push concepts beyond executional thinking toward big-idea storytelling that supports brand vision and business goals.
Ensure creative concepts scale effectively across channels, formats, and platforms.
Remain hands-on, producing and overseeing high-quality design across a wide range of assets including digital campaigns, websites, social content, email, in-store materials, and presentations.
Provide art direction for photography, illustration, motion, video, and typography; oversee asset selection, editing, and retouching.
Guide execution in a fast-paced, test-and-learn environment, ensuring accuracy, versioning, and timely delivery.
Oversee file prep, asset management, and hand-off to development partners, ensuring smooth workflows and technical accuracy.
Ensure creative assets are properly tagged, uploaded, and maintained within DAM systems.
Mentor and guide Senior Designers and Designers, providing clear creative direction, constructive feedback, and career development support.
Act as a day-to-day design lead on projects, helping prioritize workloads and solve creative challenges.
Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performance creative culture focused on growth, curiosity, and excellence.
Be a steward of design craft, staying current on digital design trends, production techniques, tools, and platforms—especially within retail, healthcare, and digital ecosystems.
Maintain a sharp eye for typography, layout, color, and photo art direction.
Leverage AI-powered creative tools alongside classic design skills to improve efficiency, exploration, and quality.
Stay attuned to cultural, social, and technological trends, applying insights to create timely, relevant, and impactful work.