Associate Design Director

, CA, United States

Who We Are

Hook is a Creative Production Agency. With a collaborative, maker-centric team, and an emphasis on craft-focused design, we develop creative campaigns, short-form content, and websites for well-known brands.

Our mission is to integrate creative and production to help grow brands faster. But we believe what’s most important are the people who work with us and the experience they have along the way. We want clients to think of us as the best agency they’ve ever worked with, and we want everyone at Hook to feel like this is the best job they’ve had yet.

WHAT’S AN ASSOCIATE DESIGN DIRECTOR AT HOOK?

Hook is seeking a hands-on Associate Design Director to join our team.

Associate Design Directors are design experts and experienced leaders who use their craft competency, theory and insights to exceed client goals while working within or helping to define brand design systems. They operate alongside creative teams—providing a client-facing fluency in visual systems—in order to produce industry-leading advertising content for static, animated, and web mediums. While their performance is often measured by the quality of work produced, their long-term success also comes from leading projects by example and passing on their knowledge to others in order to grow the department and organization as a whole.

The daily challenges range from overseeing and guaranteeing design executions to directly leading conceptual design challenges for national and global brands/campaigns. Pushing for the best visual solutions alongside design, creative, and motion teams will be paramount in producing the best work that clients have come to expect. Given the close proximity to marketing clients, being an excellent communicator and an overall joy-to-work-with will also go a long way toward success.

Please note, this team and client works PST and this person must be able to work these hours.

What You’ll Do

Demonstrate a mastery of visual design across several design disciplines

Execute and manage original, persuasive, conceptual and visually compelling design work in line with agency and brand standards

Apply design rigor to provide mentorship to cross-functional teams with the goal of accelerating skill progression

Inspire, oversee and provide mentorship to design staff with the goal of accelerating skill progression through a culture of collaboration, experimentation and knowledge sharing

Fluently speak the language of design with both clients and creatives enabling effective feedback and direction

Demonstrate emotional intelligence in all meetings and communications

Work closely with creative staff to ensure design work goes above and beyond the expected

Maintain and promote an internal awareness of industry design references and standards with a strong focus on processes and tools

Model a sense of ownership that elevates the standards and quality of all work achieved by the designers

Demonstrate an ability to work on multiple projects at the same time while maintaining clear vision of priorities

Lead projects and oversee a team to ensure that work is client-ready at all phases of their projects

Manage at least two direct reports to help shape and grow their careers as it relates to their hard and soft skill development

What You’ll Need

Demonstrate a high level of craftsmanship in design, with expertise working on design solutions as it relates to brand identities, campaigns and visual systems across multiple platforms

Expertise in web design or illustration, or both

Experience developing novel web design concepts, with a proven record leading interactive design projects with strong visual design capabilities

Experience creating original illustration work, that follows brand guidelines, while introducing a unique approach and point of view

Have outstanding communication and presentation skills

Be imaginative, collaborative, conceptual and curious

Have an optimistic outlook toward client revisions, knowing when and how to offer opportunities to push boundaries creatively

Generate and maintain enthusiasm for ideas within the agency as they move from concept to execution

Be a master of Adobe’s visual design programs (Photoshop, Illustrator)

Have a comfortability in Figma

Additional programs and skills are great to come with (prototyping/Webflow, motion/After Effects, 3D/Cinema 4D, illustration)

Have direct experience—and an enthusiasm for—team leadership and mentorship

What Else

Qualified applicants will include a resume and a link to a portfolio/body of work that demonstrates a breadth of experience.

This is a full-time position that can be hybrid or remote, depending on geographic location. We're a close-knit group of people who love what we do and want to create phenomenal work.

Company benefits include health, dental, matching 401k, paid vacation and holidays, wellness stipends/continuing education subsidies and more.

At Hook we value what makes everyone different, we look for the best talent no matter the background. We know that great work requires diverse perspectives which is why we strive to create a place of belonging where everyone can express who they are.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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