Associate Graphic Designer
About The Position
The Associate Graphic Designer helps bring brands to life through design for print, packaging, signage, presentations, retail environments, and fixtures. Working closely with senior designers and Account and Design teams, the role contributes to creative concepts and visual assets for multi-channel marketing and fixturing campaigns. Work spans sketching, storytelling, design exploration, production-ready artwork, and presentation preparation, balancing creativity with precision and deadlines. The role is based on a Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. shift. The Bernard Group is a 900-person, 100% employee-owned visual merchandising company. This is a full-time position with an annual compensation range of $45,000–$50,000.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Communication Design, or a related field.
- At least 3 years of professional graphic or 2D design experience.
- Strong portfolio showcasing conceptual sketches, brand and layout work, and production-ready artwork.
- Familiarity with typography, color theory, brand systems, and print production.
- Strong understanding of design theory, spatial visualization, typography, and composition.
- Ability to develop quick thumbnail sketches and digital concepts to explore style directions.
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite.
- Meticulous attention to detail in prepress production, dielines, color management, artwork packaging, and information organization.
- Ability to communicate design ideas effectively and collaborate constructively with cross-functional teams.
- Ability to prepare visual comps, mockups, and mood boards.
- Ability to work independently and manage assigned workflows across multiple active projects.
- Experience with print execution across graphic substrates including acrylic, vinyl, metal, and corrugate.
- Proactive and curious approach to new materials, design trends, and production techniques.
- Effective verbal and written communication, strong interpersonal and listening skills, and ability to present ideas concisely.
- Willingness to acknowledge mistakes, loyalty to customers and team, trustworthiness, reliability, adaptability, enthusiasm, and readiness to take on new challenges.
Nice To Haves
- Experience in retail, exhibit, packaging, or branded environments.
- Exposure to Figma, KeyShot, or SketchUp.
Responsibilities
- Translate board creative concepts, briefs, and marketing strategies into graphics for retail environments, signage, packaging, and fixtures.
- Create design solutions that reflect strong visual taste and merchant needs while meeting project guidelines and budgets.
- Contribute throughout the design lifecycle, from sketching, ideation, and exploration to final artwork execution.
- Balance tasks across multiple active projects and organize deliverables to meet deadlines.
- Participate in design reviews, brainstorming, and presentation preparation, incorporating feedback to refine work.
- Build press-ready print files, custom dielines, bleeds, and color specifications, and review proofs for technical accuracy across fixture sizes.
- Gather visual, typographic, and material references and explore new trends and design techniques.
- Organize artwork files, fonts, brand assets, and references for team collaboration and future access.
- Adapt to changing priorities and take on miscellaneous design work to support broader team goals.
Benefits
- Generous paid time off that increases with tenure.
- Healthcare, dental, life insurance, and disability benefits.
- Paid parental leave.
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
- 401(k) with company match.
- Career development opportunities.
- Flexible work hours.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Employee referral program.
- Safe and clean manufacturing environment.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
