Associate Creative Director - Seattle, United States - House of Sorcery

Description

House of Sorcery is a quickly growing art & design studio, developing and producing commercial projects for a variety of clients across many industries. We have an opportunity on our small, multi-disciplinary creative team for an Associate Creative Director (ACD).

The ACD will see projects through all phases to see the project through to fruition. They will actively drive and manage the creative aspects through Concept Design and Design Development; bringing in ideas, guiding designers, prompting/prepping for/participating in brainstorms/mood boards, and ensuring the creative tasks are on track against milestones and deadlines. eeping the client & project guardrails, and any other questions/needs to aid their growth. They will also work closely with the PM team for any/all project needs to keep on track.

The foundations of this role is a mix of experiences, within a creative yet professional environment. We are looking for a wizard that has worked in environmental graphic design, design for dimensional and large scale builds, fine arts, and with an agency project workflow know-how. This role is suited to a curious, collaborative, inspired, experienced individual that enjoys an independent, fast-paced project environment. An organized, strong communicator is a must, someone who can multitask and manage their projects efficiently. This position is an in-house role (remote or hybrid not available) and reports to the ECD.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Creative direction for House of Sorcery, working closely with Executive Creative Director for project expectations and direction plan/cadence for team
• Ability to demonstrate experience with conceptual research, industry experience, storytelling through cohesive creative, brand integrations, pushing the boundaries of work that inspires.
• Maintain a natural self discipline to see what else is happening, look for new inspirations, keep aware of new materials, concepts, approaches, solutions, etc.
• Understand feasibility, know how to push creative limits but also come with grounded solutions.
• Be disciplined about learning, remembering and incorporating the client's direction, brand guidelines, guardrails, comments and hopes.
• Maintain a clear and defined way of expressing direction, working positively with a team of peers, being organized, prepped and structured in how direction is given, tracked, and follow up on
• Express creative concepts through sketches, mood boards, creative/collaborative software, & other creative tools
• Maintain positive, collaborative and forward-thinking relationships with internal peers, external partners, and clients
• Stay open minded about solutions and be weary of overly rigid boundaries that may restrict concepting
• Proactively get familiar with and manage timelines, budgets and client expectations.
• Take initiative at project kick off to digest creative brief, research relevant client or project information and get organized for the type of info we will need to be successful.
• Work with Account & PM team to get all details surrounding the client's needs, work with designers on tasks and deliverables to meet deadlines.
• As creative takes shape, develop an understanding of how to dial in concepts and feasibility of proposed creative.
• Lead Design team meetings and project creative meetings, supporting questions around creative, direction, bandwidth and process.
• Plan for and come prepared to meetings, knowing what the goal is of the meeting and what needs to be accomplished.
• Stay open to collaborating with a project team to see the project through, but knows how to self manage to meet independent milestones/deadlines.
• Be open to try new things constantly, make unique work for each client and understanding we are not trying to develop sameness or easy solutions from project to project.
• Maintain a strong attention to detail, and ability to document and communicate feedback, next steps and comprehension of the development process to internal and external teams.
• Maintain good awareness of/with brand, build, art and cultural trends.
• Participate with design team and aim to be a good mentor/leader, exemplifying our Ethos, process and vision.
• Manage multiple projects and tasks at a time, each with tight deadlines and follow up actions.
• Manage the presentation process for assigned projects from creating the deck through to proofing it's content. Work with team (PM's and designers) to populate decks throughout the process and ensure content is comprehensive.
• Learn and embrace the HOS brand, adapting to style & techniques
• Continue to develop the HOS brand, narrative and ways to express the brand, working alongside the ECD.
• Help oversee and manage expectations of storage of assets on the drive, keeping them organized and up to date with the most recent versions.
• Stay curious and embrace that we rarely do the same thing twice.
• Be nimble, flexible, and positive through client and/or internal changes.
• Constantly seek and accept feedback as a part of the process for dialing in the creative.
• Maintain a positive attitude with a cool head during busy times.
• Embrace our small but nimble team and the important role each person plays in our success.

Projects Will Include

• Deliverables in environmental design; dimensional installations, art, wayfinding, experiential design, etc.
• Research, brief development, and creative starting points
• Narrative & storytelling elements
• Sketches, moodboards & inspiration development
• Content design for social & website
• Brand identity development and/or integration (logo, color palettes, lock ups, brand guides, assets...)
• Spatial mock ups and sketches, expressing scale, composition, color, materials and techniques
• New business decks, portfolios, books
• Occasional product concepts/design
• Presentation decks & template improvement
• Project information and detail management and organization
• Some production Design & print files
• Photography support
• Weekly team & design meetings
• Process development & management
• File management & organization

Job Requirements

• BFA, BA, or BS degree in Design, or equivalent combination of work experience and education
• 3+ years of experience in a lead design or lead creative role; agency experience a plus
• 2+ years in a leadership or management role
• 2+ years in an agency type environment
• Experience with technical designers. Adept at reading architectural drawings and plans
• Experience with environmental design and dimensional large scale builds
• Wizard at mood boards, visual plans, and visual tools
• Demonstrated understanding of narrative, dimensionality, scale, materials, technique, brand integration and the development of each over the course of a project
• Ability to work in a collaborative environment with a small team
• Excellent communication, written and verbal
• Well organized, with the ability to prioritize workloads, often among tight deadlines
• Excited to take on challenges and explore new concepts at every turn
• Proficient in Adobe Suite (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop) and GSuite tools (slides, sheets, docs)

Nice to Haves

• Squarespace with light CSS/HTML
• Social media & content creation
• Experience with a project management tool (Basecamp)
• Copywriting skills
• 3D rendering & CAD experience
• Appreciation of fine art, popsicles and fried food

Status: Full time, Salary

Pay: 68k-82k (Depends on applicable experience)

Reports to: Executive Creative Director

Location: In-house, Seattle, WA (SoDo/Georgetown), remote or hybrid is not available

How to Apply: Send your resume, cover letter and portfolio Please tell us how you are a good fit.