Junior Visual Designer — Digital + Print

Jak Creative Design is an independent, woman-owned creative agency in Downers Grove, Illinois, just outside Chicago. For nearly three decades we've partnered with startups, nonprofits, and Fortune 100 brands on work spanning branding, direct mail, digital, campaigns, presentations, and events.

About the role

Start your design career doing real work. As a junior designer at Jak, you won't disappear into layers of hierarchy. You'll work alongside senior creatives, contribute to real client projects from the start, and see how an idea moves from concept through production and out into the world. We're looking for someone with strong fundamentals, a good eye, real curiosity about how things get made, and a portfolio that shows potential.

Responsibilities

• Design across digital and print: email, web, direct mail, presentations, social, and display
• Develop concepts and layouts with guidance from senior creatives
• Work within established brand systems and adapt campaigns across formats, audiences, and versions
• Learn how design translates into HTML email and web, and make basic edits to existing HTML and CSS
• Prepare accurate, production-ready files
• Learn print and direct mail production from people who've done it for years
• Collaborate with designers, developers, project managers, copywriters, and production partners

Requirements

• 0 to 3 years of professional experience (internships and meaningful freelance count)
• A portfolio that shows strong typography, layout, hierarchy, and attention to detail
• Solid Adobe Creative Suite skills, particularly InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop
• Some experience designing for both digital and print
• Basic familiarity with HTML and CSS, and genuine interest in developing those skills
• Organization, follow-through, and the ability to take feedback and apply it well

Nice to have

• Figma
• HTML email
• Motion or light animation
• Presentation design
• Direct mail
• Print production
• Versioned campaigns
• Agency or in-house team experience

Why Jak

You'll actually get to do the work, on a range of it, rather than one narrow slice. You'll also learn the less glamorous things that turn a talented designer into a professional one: production, brand consistency, client feedback, deadlines, file prep, and the details that decide whether something works in the real world. As your skills grow, so does your creative responsibility.

Pay

Salary is $62,000 to $68,000 depending on experience and overall skill set.

Schedule

This is a full-time hybrid role based in Downers Grove, Illinois, with three days per week in office.