Associate Product Designer - Illustrator

American Greetings - Westlake, OH

Full-time - Entry Level

Westlake, OH

Publishing Industries

About the position

The Associate Product Designer role at American Greetings is an entry-level position that combines conceptual and technical functions in product design. The role focuses on developing graphic design capabilities while learning the company's processes, systems, and tools. The ideal candidate will be a strong illustrator, responsible for creating new product designs, modifying existing art assets, and preparing artwork for reproduction, all while gaining a comprehensive understanding of the product design process.

Responsibilities

• Applies strong layout, color and finishing solutions when creating product design concepts, effectively integrating hand lettering and typography.
• 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.
• Builds and maintains organized digital files of art assets from AG Assets and inspiration reference from various sources.
• Develops understanding of how to connect design elements with editorial copy to create meaningful, highly saleable product.
• Builds knowledge of corporate pricing strategies to design innovative products with appropriate attributes and perceived value that align with specified price and cost targets.
• Supports brainstorms when called upon.
• 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 and cost estimating of finishings and attachments.
• 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.
• 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 the 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.

Requirements

• 0+ years of professional experience in a graphic design or related Creative role, or equivalent education.
• 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. working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite 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.