ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNER

ART DIRECTOR + DESIGNERTake creative direction and turn it into exceptional work — developing the visual idea, designing it, building the system around it, and leading the people and production required to bring it to life. ABOUT COOMERCoomer LLC is an independent creative agency based in Lexington, Kentucky. We believe progressive brands can shape culture and create meaningful impact. Through a curated network of independent contributors, we assemble the right talent, at the right time, for the right projects—bringing together strategy, creative, design, media, social and production to create the best work of our careers for a select group of brand partners.We operate with a small core team and an expansive creative network. That means the people on our core team aren't simply managing work—they are making it, pushing it and bringing together the people required to make it exceptional. ABOUT THE POSITIONWe are looking for a highly skilled, hands-on Art Director + Designer who can translate creative strategy and direction into exceptional visual work — and carry that work all the way through production.This person will own much of the agency's day-to-day look development and design execution, working closely with our ECD to establish the look, tone and feel of brands, campaigns and content. The role requires someone who can take a creative idea and run with it: exploring references, developing visual territories, building design systems, creating presentations, assembling mockups and ad-like objects, designing finished work and continually pushing the creative forward without waiting for someone else to tell them what comes next.This is not a role for someone who wants to simply direct other designers. You need to love designing.At the same time, you need to know when the work requires additional talent. You'll help identify, brief and direct external designers, illustrators, photographers, art directors and other creative partners from our contributor network — keeping projects moving, maintaining quality and delivering work on time and on budget.The goal is to create greater leverage for our ECD and Account Team: allowing them to spend more time setting creative direction, developing ideas and working directly with our brand partners, while this role takes significant ownership of turning that direction into tangible, finished work. ABOUT YOUYou're an art director who still loves being a designer. We take pride in being a small but mighty team, and this role is for highly skilled designers wanting to build their career as a creative, not a manager — which is most often the case when talent looks to advance their career. You can start with a strategy, conversation, sketch, reference or loose creative direction and turn it into a fully realized visual world. You have strong taste, but you're equally strong at execution. You know the difference between making something beautiful and making something right for the brand. You're comfortable moving between concept and production throughout the same day. You might spend the morning developing a campaign look, the afternoon building a client presentation, and the end of the day reviewing files from an outside designer and getting them ready for production.You don't wait for every next step to be assigned. You see where the work needs to go and push it there, while staying in communication with Project Managers within Asana. You're organized enough to manage multiple projects and contributors without sacrificing craft. You're comfortable receiving feedback from internal teams and brand partners, interpreting it intelligently and applying it without losing the strength of the original idea.Most importantly, you care about the finished work. WHAT YOU'LL DODevelop the look, tone and feel of creative work. Translate brand strategy and creative direction into visual territories, references, moodboards, campaign systems and finished creative.Design. A lot. Create brand identities, campaigns, social content, digital advertising, presentations, environmental graphics, print, experiential materials and other agency and client work.Turn strategy into creative systems. Understand the strategic idea behind the work and create visual systems that can scale consistently across channels, formats and partners.Own creative development through production. Take work from initial exploration through revisions, adaptation, production and final delivery—not just the exciting first round.Make decks better. Work alongside strategy, creative and account teams to turn thinking into compelling visual presentations, adding creative ideas and visual storytelling rather than simply formatting slides.Help lead client presentations. Present creative thinking and design rationale when appropriate, articulate why decisions were made and respond constructively to brand-partner feedback.Manage outside creative talent. Identify, brief and direct designers, illustrators, photographers, production partners and other contributors when additional expertise or bandwidth is needed.Protect quality. Review work from internal and external collaborators, provide clear feedback and ensure everything leaving the agency meets our creative and production standards.Own the details. Maintain organized working files, design systems, templates, specifications and production-ready assets so that creative ideas survive execution.Manage against reality. Understand scopes, timelines and production budgets and determine what should be designed internally versus assigned to outside contributors.Keep the work moving. Maintain visibility into design needs and priorities, communicate progress and anticipate bottlenecks before they become problems.Push beyond the assignment. Bring references, ideas, executions and opportunities to the table that weren't explicitly requested. We expect this person to make the work better, not simply complete it. EXPERIENCEWe're less interested in a specific number of years than in the quality of your portfolio and your ability to operate at this level, but the ideal candidate will likely bring: 5–8+ years of professional design and art direction experience, preferably across agency, studio, brand or similarly fast-moving creative environments.A portfolio demonstrating exceptional typography, composition, visual storytelling and brand thinking across multiple types of work.Experience developing brands and campaigns from early look development through finished production.Experience designing across digital, social, print, presentations, advertising and physical environments.Experience working with—and ideally directing—freelance designers, illustrators, photographers and other creative specialists.Strong command of contemporary design tools and production workflows. WHAT MATTERS HERETaste + craft. You have a strong visual point of view and the technical ability to execute it. Initiative. You don't need someone standing over your shoulder assigning every next task.Design without ego. You're as willing to resize 30 assets correctly (or find an efficient way to get this automated) as you are to develop the campaign concept that created them.Strategic thinking. You understand that design isn't decoration. You can articulate how creative decisions support positioning, audience and business objectives.Organization. You can manage your own workload while coordinating external creative resources across multiple accounts.Resourcefulness. You know when to make something yourself, when to bring someone else in and how to get excellent work from both.Communication. You can articulate creative decisions to creative directors, account teams, contributors and clients.Collaboration. You want to work alongside writers, strategists, photographers, illustrators, directors, designers and clients to make something better than any one person could make alone.Production mentality. You don't disappear when the concept gets approved. You care about the last 10% —the resizing, revisions, file preparation, specifications and details that determine whether great creative actually becomes great work. COMPENSATION PACKAGE$75-85k salary depending on years and type of experienceIdeally, this role operates on a hybrid schedule out of our Lexington office, but we are open to a fully remote arrangement for the right candidate.Ideally, this role operates on a hybrid schedule out of our Lexington office, but we are open to a fully remote arrangement for the right candidate.Occasional travel for shoots, client meetings, and offsites.Bonus / profit share opportunityA perks and benefits package valued at an additional 10k (not including bonus / profit sharing)100% Employer matched 401k, up to 5% of salaryGenerous paid time off – 20 days – in addition to 11 Federal holidays8 weeks paid parental leaveEnd of year office shut down (1 week) to rest & rechargeProfessional Development: Access to online learning (MOOC), conferences (ex.: AdAge Gen Z Summit, etc.), friendly peers, mentoring, and opportunities to have a seat at the table with great client partnersFully paid insurance premiums (health, dental, eye) through Anthem PPO Coomer LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We value people from all walks of life and believe a diverse, equitable, and respectful work environment results in a better culture and allows us to do our best work.