Gift Packaging Designer & Illustrator - American Greetings

Westlake, OH

Job Description

As this is a position based out of our Creative Studios in Westlake, Ohio, we will focus on candidates currently residing in Ohio.

**In order to be considered for this role, you will need to provide a pdf or link to a portfolio with examples of your illustration work.**

GENERAL SUMMARY:

The Associate Product Designer role is a blend of conceptual and technical functions. The position is an entry level role to teach American Greetings processes, systems, tools and industry knowledge, as well as further develop graphic design capabilities.

In this role, you will be responsible for gaining understanding of how to concept new product and interpret specific product direction to design new products. The Associate Product Designer modifies existing art assets or directs new artwork to provide subject matter and technique variety within assigned product lines and refines and prepares art for reproduction.

Our ideal candidate will be a strong designer/illustrator as this role requires a keen sense of color application, trend awareness, concepting, drawing, and typography skills to deliver consistently fresh and relevant products. Experience with consumer products is a plus as this role will be focused on gift wrap and bags with a boutique look.

Comprehensive on-the-job training in AG proprietary systems will enable the Associates Product Designer to monitor workflow and deadlines, meet pricing and cost targets and specify physical product attributes for manufacturing with routine supervision.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Product Design & Development:
 Applies strong layout, color and finishing solutions when creating product design concepts, effectively integrating hand lettering and typography.
 Increasingly becomes proficient at creating new, innovative product design concepts for everyday and seasonal product lines.
 Gains understanding of corporate market research methods, trend analysis and brand differentiation strategies that meet retailer and consumer needs.
 Creatively interprets product concept instructions, executes and refines art.
 Begins to build and maintain organized digital files of art assets from AG Assets and inspiration reference from various sources (websites, blogs, magazines, etc.).
 Develops understanding of how to connect design elements with editorial copy to create meaningful, highly saleable product.
 Builds knowledge of corporate pricing strategies in order to design innovative product with appropriate attributes and perceived value that align with specified price and cost targets.
 Supports brainstorms when called upon.

Technical Skills:
 Effectively uses creative software programs and learns AG proprietary software and scripts to create production ready files for Manufacturing.
 Learns to build digital production-ready files, including color optimization through Color Management standards, cost estimating of finishings and attachments and other AG manufacturing standards.
 Gains a thorough knowledge of manufacturing processes and finishing applications.
 Develops a solid understanding of internal material sourcing processes and basic paper engineering practices.
 Creates repro-quality composite to ensure the product functions properly.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Workflow Management
 Consistently meets all project and task deadlines as assigned by Program Director and/or Resource Planner.
 Proactively prioritizes assignments, regularly reviewing deadlines and workflow with Program Director or Senior Product Designer.
 Learns to coordinate deadlines with centers of excellence, editorial, proofreading, sourcing partners, freelance studio and file validation.
 Builds collaborative working relationships with Product Development, Editorial, Illustration, Photography, Hand Lettering, IMS, Global Sourcing and Manufacturing.
 Adjusts product designs based on feedback throughout multi-layered review process, in conjunction with Program Director or Senior Product Designer.
 Works with Sourcing department to initiate costing of new materials and manage process to Master Assortment Line Item completion with supervision by Program Director or Senior Product Designer.
 Provides strong conceptual/aesthetic art direction, either through written or verbal communication, to the centers of excellence.

Experience Required:

Required Length & Type of Experience:
 0+ years of professional experience in a graphic design or related Creative role, or equivalent education

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:
 Exhibits excellent design skills, including strong color sense and solid understanding of typography
 Versatile, flexible team player with the ability to collaborate cross functionally
 Strong verbal and written communication skills
 Understand and use design terminology
 Innovative thinking and problem solving capabilities
 Exhibit solid understanding of specific software processes and procedures to complete job function within department (e.g. proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite - with heavy concentration in Illustrator and Photoshop, and Microsoft Office)
 Understanding of the social expressions industry and related product categories
 Proficiency with a variety of art styles and subject matter that enable people to make emotional connections and celebrate special occasions