Freelance Design Director
About The Position
Complex is seeking a freelance Design Director to join the Brand Partnerships team and elevate design standards. This role involves working within the Branded Art and Design team, collaborating cross-functionally with branded content (editorial and video), account management, product, and experiential teams to ideate and execute a wide range of deliverables. The ideal candidate will have a strong technical skillset, the ability to manage projects from concept to completion, and a multi-disciplinary approach encompassing graphic design, social design, display media, print collateral, merchandise, and experiential concepting. This individual should be a creative visionary capable of translating cultural insights and brand guidelines into compelling visual expressions across digital and physical mediums, demonstrating self-motivation, collaboration, and a drive for innovation.
Requirements
- Minimum 6-8 years of graphic design experience.
- 3-4 years of art direction experience within the last 3-4 years at an agency, culturally-adjacent media publisher, or in-house brand.
- Passion for forward-thinking design across digital, print, experiential, and product.
- Voracious consumer of pop culture and working knowledge of trends in music, events, streetwear, and fashion.
- Well-organized, with strict attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
- Excellent communication skills: written, verbal, interpersonal.
- Ability to support design decisions using industry insight, best practices, and tried and true execution approaches.
- Obsession with details and pushing creative until the best execution is reached.
- Highly responsible, self-motivated, and able to thrive in an energetic, fast-paced, high growth, entrepreneurial environment.
- Strong time management skills and ability to pivot from project to project, juggling multiple at a time.
- Passion for materials within tangible design for apparel, packaging, print, and experiential builds.
- Expertise in latest Mac software: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects), Google Slides, Figma, ReadyMag, SketchUp or other experiential 3D render software.
- Working knowledge of current AI render platforms.
- Ability to composite in 2D.
- Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.
Nice To Haves
- A background in 3D rendering is a major plus.
- Impressive, wide-ranging portfolio (brand, print, event, editorial and product is a plus).
Responsibilities
- Work cross-functionally with Branded Production and Publishing teams, Experiential Producers, Product, Web Development, and Account Managers to craft thoughtful executions for video, photo, social campaigns, and immersive events.
- Report into design and branded content leadership, elevating content across various platforms.
- Act as a player-coach, capable of executing design work and guiding partnering designers towards better visual outputs.
- Listen to and receive internal and external creative feedback with urgency, professionalism, and attention to detail.
- Consistently create engaging designs with a strong focus on Art Direction.
- Execute within design and production workstreams in a fast-paced environment.
- Maintain the Complex brand's tone of voice in branded work.
- Concept and pitch work to internal and external teams.
- Work with designers to bring concepts and campaign objectives to life.
- Collaborate with design leaders, account managers, experiential, and product teams to create a visual roadmap for deliverables.
- Take projects from concept to launch, creating within existing workflow systems while marrying brand guidelines and the Complex visual ID.
- Pitch and sell work to senior leadership and brand clients as necessary.
- Translate larger campaign initiatives and creative into display and social deliverables.
- Conceptualize and execute physical brand experiences, from pop-up activations to large-scale events like ComplexCon.
- Design limited-edition merchandise drops and collaborations, bringing fashion sensibility to product storytelling.
- Conduct research to identify problems and validate designs.
Benefits
- Salary range of $125,000 - $138,000 a year, which consists of salary and commission.
- Complex Total Rewards offerings for employees.
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What This Job Offers
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
