Principal Graphic Designer - TCG

Fanatics Collectibles•Seattle, WA

20d•$98,900 - $123,050•Onsite

About The Position

Fanatics TCG is seeking a Principal Graphic Designer to serve as a senior individual contributor and studio-level craft leader. In this role, you will define and steward the graphic design systems that shape our trading card game franchises, translating creative direction and gameplay needs into distinctive, scalable, and production-ready solutions. Your work will span franchise identity, card-frame architecture, typography, iconography, color systems, templates, packaging, and marketing materials. You will remain actively involved in design execution while also establishing the principles, standards, and tools that enable other designers and cross-functional partners to create consistent, high-quality work. In close partnership with the Creative Director, Art Directors, Game Design, Product Development, and Production teams, you will lead the studio’s most complex graphic design challenges, influence high-impact visual decisions, and elevate design quality through hands-on work, thoughtful critique, and mentorship.

Requirements

8 or more years of professional graphic design experience, or equivalent experience demonstrating ownership of complex brand, identity, or design-system work.
A portfolio demonstrating advanced craft in typography, hierarchy, composition, color, and information design, including work for highly constrained or information-dense formats.
Demonstrated experience creating and evolving scalable visual systems, templates, standards, and shared tools that support consistent execution across products and contributors.
The ability to lead complex or ambiguous design challenges, translate creative direction into practical solutions, and influence decisions through clear design rationale and constructive collaboration.
Experience partnering across creative, product, game design, and production disciplines, while providing mentorship, critique, or craft guidance to other designers.
Advanced proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and strong working knowledge of print production, packaging, file preparation, and template-based design.

Responsibilities

Define and steward the visual design language for Fanatics TCG franchises, ensuring each property has a distinctive, recognizable, and scalable identity.
Lead the development and ongoing evolution of card-frame systems, including frame architecture, information hierarchy, typography, iconography, color, and the visual grammar used to communicate gameplay information.
Develop and maintain comprehensive franchise identity systems, including logos, color systems, typography, graphic elements, and brand standards.
Translate creative concepts into documented design systems, templates, shared libraries, and production tools that can be applied consistently across cards, packaging, marketing materials, and related brand touchpoints.
Serve as the hands-on design lead for high-impact, highly complex, or ambiguous initiatives, guiding work from early exploration and concept development through production-ready execution.
Partner with Game Design to ensure graphic systems support readability, information hierarchy, and gameplay comprehension without compromising the distinct character of each franchise.
Collaborate with Creative, Product Development, and Production partners to balance creative ambition with product requirements, print capabilities, manufacturing constraints, schedules, and business objectives.
Establish and uphold graphic design quality standards across the product line, reviewing key work and identifying solutions when designs do not meet established creative, functional, or production requirements.
Act as a trusted design authority by clearly articulating design rationale, evaluating creative tradeoffs, and building alignment among creative and non-creative stakeholders.
Provide actionable critique, mentorship, and technical guidance to other designers, helping the team apply shared standards while continuing to develop their individual craft.
Identify recurring design, workflow, and production challenges and lead improvements to templates, documentation, review practices, asset management, and cross-functional handoffs.
Maintain organized, accurate, and accessible design files, standards, and shared assets that support efficient collaboration and long-term franchise development.