POSITION TITLE

Production Artist / Jr. Designer

DEPARTMENT

Creative

POSITION REPORTS TO

Creative Director

COMPANY OVERVIEW

: Since 1979, Old World Christmas has been the premier brand of blown glass Christmas ornaments in the country. Today, we offer the most extensive and best-loved collection with over 1,400 proprietary designs, ranging from traditional to whimsical. Our vast selection of finely crafted and affordable ornaments offers many choices to fit your personality or style. Each glass ornament is hand-crafted in age-old tradition using techniques that originated in the 1800s. Molten glass is mouth-blown into finely carved molds made exclusively for Old World Christmas, before a hot solution of liquid silver is poured inside. The ornaments are then hand-painted and glittered in a series of labor-intensive steps to achieve their beautiful creations.

JOB OVERVIEW

: Reporting to the Creative Director, the Production Artist/Jr Designer will support the creative development process by completing hangtags, photo editing, grid specs, and coloring specs. They will also maintain file organization and design digital and print ads with a consistent design language to connect with our customers. Additionally, they will handle Quality Control of production samples and provide detailed critiques to the factories. The Production Artist/Jr Designer exhibits a solid understanding of product support and is an efficient problem-solver in a range of styles and techniques. This role will be heavily focused on Production Artist responsibilities but also involves supporting marketing through print and digital ads. This role is onsite fulltime at the Old World Christmas company headquarters in the Spokane, WA.

NATURE AND SCOPE OF JOB

:

Reporting Structure :

This role reports to the Creative Director and partners closely with the Product Design team.

Product Creation :

The Production Artist/Jr Designer maintains a strong, steady production of proven and new, high-caliber OWC products and assumes both technical and aesthetic responsibility in the on-time completion of assignments. They pursue maximum product effectiveness through careful attention to direction, note-taking, listening, and product intent.

Team Interaction :

The Production Artist/Jr Designer works constructively with the Creative Team toward the development of creative/business strategies and products.

Professional Conduct :

The Production Artist/Jr Designer assumes responsibility for their work on technical file creation and is knowledgeable about day-to-day processes and procedures.

DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

:

• Develop fresh, innovative, creative approaches to products through distinctive design styling for Seasonal and Licensed categories, ads (print and digital), marketing materials, flyers, hangtags, and additional sales/marketing collateral.
• Establish a high level of graphic design, typography, and some illustration, design, and aesthetic excellence to enhance the product.
• Efficiently manage workload while meeting all technical requirements for quality reproduction.
• Execute with exceptional attention to detail and accuracy, with an eye for design, layout, and formatting.
• Comprehend and utilize Licensor style guides to create designs and set up files per Licensor specifications.
• Support the sales and marketing team with various image requests and web bundle image creation as needed
• Create detailed specification files utilized for production by the manufacturing team.
• Provide detailed critiques and QC files for production by the manufacturing team.
• Create detailed hangtag files utilized for production by the manufacturing team.
• Develop and perpetuate good working relationships with the Product team, other studio members, and business units.
• Work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
• Demonstrate a high level of responsibility and ownership.
• Efficiently learn new tools and business processes.
• Contribute to a positive "can-do" attitude on the team.
• Willingness to adopt new ideas and learn new approaches.
• Assist the creative team with other various tasks as needed (organizing ornament display walls, samples, etc.

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QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, EDUCATION REQUIRED

:

• 3+ years of professional Production Artist experience in a creative environment (required).
• Bachelor's degree in design, Product Development, or related fields (preferred).
• Strong professional portfolio demonstrating digital web and printed ads, product specs, and detailed critiques showing experience with manufacturing (required).
• Ability to concept and compose engaging whimsical ads, scenes, patterns, textures, and typography (required).
• Experience working with licensed designs (preferred).
• Ability to match existing art styles.
• Strong problem-solving skills, organizational skills, and attention to detail.
• Heightened creative and technical abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to create precise, accurate production-ready files.
• Ability to follow a project from concept to finished product.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint in an Apple/Mac environment.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and remain flexible through multiple revisions while keeping a keen eye on attention to detail.
• Thrive in a highly dynamic, deadline-driven, fast-paced environment while managing multiple priorities.
• Understand the anatomy of ad designs for web.
• Assist in setting up tooling artwork and coloring diagrams of ornaments.
• Take product photographs, process and edit in Photoshop, and turn them into content for the website and other digital content.
• Support in the creation of creative assets for digital, print, social, web landing pages, blog post images, and occasional video projects.
• Ensure final graphics and layouts are visually appealing and on-brand.
• Ensure that design is consistent with market trends and aligns with brand identity.
• Assist with internal projects (create/print product hangtags, create packaging prototypes, create marketing materials, digital mockups, etc.,).
• Assist with artwork submissions for licensed brand approvals.
• Strong time management and priority management; can manage timelines efficiently and independently.
• Ability to meet stringent deadlines and quickly manage changing priorities.
• Strong communication skills; able to communicate information clearly and effectively with team members in China.
• Able to work in a team environment, but also be a self-starter.
• Comfortable with asking questions.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

: Applicants must submit a cover letter, resume, and a strong online portfolio (with samples demonstrating your range of style, color, composition, typography/lettering, attention to detail, strategic thinking, and skill). Applications that do not include a cover letter, resume, and portfolio noting the requirements above will not be considered.

Job Type:

Full-time Pay:

$50,000.00 - $55,000.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) Dental insurance Health insurance Paid time off

Education:

Bachelor's (Required) Ability to

Commute:

Spokane, WA 99202 (Required) Ability to

Relocate:

Spokane, WA 99202: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location:

In person