The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is a public non-profit charitable organization.
Job Description:
Position Description
Position Title: PRODUCTION GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Position Type: FULL TIME
FLSA Classification: NON-EXEMPT
Department: MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Reports to: ART DIRECTOR
Position Summary
The Production Graphic Designer plays a crucial role in supporting the creative and visual aspects of our projects. Working closely with and supporting every member of the design team, this role involves translating design concepts into print-ready and digital assets, ensuring accuracy, quality, and adherence to brand guidelines. The Production Graphic Designer will collaborate with various teams to produce marketing materials, digital designs, advertisements, and other visual content. Attention to detail, technical excellence in design software, and a strong sense of visual aesthetics are essential to excel in this role. This is an exciting opportunity for a creative individual to gain valuable experience and contribute to the visual identity of our company.
Principle Responsibilities
- Prepare Print-Ready Materials: Convert design concepts into print-ready files, ensuring accurate color profiles, resolutions, and bleed settings for various printing methods.
- Digital Asset Creation: Produce digital graphics for online platforms, including social media, websites, email campaigns, and digital advertising.
- Adhere to Brand Guidelines: Maintain consistency with established brand guidelines and ensure all designs align with the company's visual identity.
- Layout Design: Create layouts for brochures, flyers, posters, and other marketing collateral, arranging images and text in an aesthetically pleasing and coherent manner.
- Image Editing and Enhancement: Retouch and manipulate images to enhance visual appeal and ensure they meet the required standards.
- Typography: Select and implement appropriate fonts, sizes, and styles to enhance readability and overall design aesthetics.
- Collaborate with Design Team: Work closely with and support other designers, art directors, and creative leads to bring design concepts to life and achieve project objectives.
- File Management: Organize and manage design files, maintain version control, and ensure efficient file sharing among team members.
- Secondary proofreading: Review designs for spelling, grammar, and accuracy before finalizing them for production.
- Quality Control: Perform thorough checks on design files to identify and rectify any technical issues or discrepancies before sending them for production.
- Adapt to Feedback: Incorporate feedback from team members, clients, and stakeholders to refine and improve designs.
- Time Management: Prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and manage multiple projects simultaneously to ensure timely delivery of design assets.
- Stay Updated: Keep up-to-date with design trends, software updates, and industry best practices to continuously enhance skills and knowledge.
- Communication: Clearly communicate design choices, concepts, and technical considerations with team members and clients.
- File Format Conversion: Convert design files between various formats for different platforms and purposes.
- Assist in Pre-Press Setup: Collaborate with print vendors to ensure accurate pre-press setup and troubleshoot any technical issues that may arise.
- Problem Solving: Identify and address potential design challenges or technical issues during the production process.
- Support Other Design Needs: Assist in various design-related tasks as needed, such as photo research, icon creation, and visual mockups.
Additional (Possible) Responsibilities
- Animation and Motion Graphics: Create simple animations and motion graphics for videos, presentations, or web banners, adding an engaging dynamic element to visual content.
- Content Creation: Generate original visual content, such as infographics, charts, and diagrams, to communicate complex information effectively.
- Presentation Design: Design visually appealing and engaging presentation materials for internal and external use, such as sales pitches or company updates.
- Sustainability Considerations: Integrate sustainable design practices into projects, considering eco-friendly materials, printing methods, and resource conservation.
- Data Visualization: Translate complex data into visually appealing and understandable graphics, charts, and visualizations.
Education, Training, and Traits
Minimum Qualifications
- Associate's Degree in Graphic Design: Two-year program that provided foundational knowledge and practical skills in graphic design. Topics covered: design principles, typography, color theory, image editing, layout design, and software proficiency.
- Proven experience as a production designer or graphic designer with a strong portfolio showcasing production and/or design projects across various mediums.
- Expert proficiency in graphic design software such as Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) and other design tools.
- Solid understanding of typography, layout principles, color theory, and visual hierarchy.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and clients.
- Strong attention to detail, problem-solving skills, and the ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
- Minimum 1-year of technical experience with prepress and print production processes.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design: A four-year bachelor's degree program with comprehensive education in graphic design. Topics covered: design theory, conceptualization, web design, print design, motion graphics.
- Bachelor's Degree in Visual Communication or a Related Field: Degrees in visual communication, communication design, or similar fields. Topics covered: broad range of visual communication concepts.
- Three-years of experience with prepress and print production processes.
Work Experience
2-3 Years of Professional Experience:
- Production Designer or Graphic Designer: This experience could be gained through full-time, freelance work, or part-time design positions.
- Freelance Designer: Practical design production experience even without extensive full-time work experience.
- Design Assistant: Work as a design assistant in a studio, agency, or non-profit setting with experience in handling design files, adhering to brand guidelines, and supporting other designers.
- Design Production Assistant: Graphic design roles focused on print and digital production.
Traits
- Communication Skills: Clear and effective communication to understand project requirements, present design ideas, and work collaboratively with team members, clients, and stakeholders.
- Attention to Detail: Production work requires meticulous attention to detail to ensure that designs are accurate, consistent, and adhere to brand guidelines, especially when preparing files for print.
- Team Collaboration: Graphic designers often work within teams, so being able to contribute positively, share ideas, give and receive feedback, and adapt to different working styles is essential.
- Time Management: Meeting deadlines and managing multiple projects simultaneously.
- Problem-Solving Skills: Being able to analyze problems, brainstorm solutions, and adapt your designs accordingly is valuable.
- Flexibility and Adaptability: Design projects can evolve, and requirements may change. Being flexible and adaptable to adjustments helps maintain the quality of your work while meeting shifting needs.
- Patience: Dealing with revisions, edits, and changes is part of the design process. Having patience when addressing feedback and making necessary adjustments is essential.
- Creative Thinking: While production work involves adhering to established design guidelines, creativity is still important, especially when finding innovative ways to present information or solve design challenges.
- Empathy: Understanding the audience's perspective and the goals of the project helps you create designs that resonate with the target audience and effectively communicate the intended message.
- Customer Service Mindset: If you're working with clients, having a customer-focused attitude and the ability to manage client expectations can lead to successful collaborations and satisfied clients.
- Confidence and Humility: Confidence in your skills is important, but being open to feedback and willing to learn from others is equally crucial for growth and improvement.
- Adherence to Deadlines: Consistently delivering work on time demonstrates reliability and helps maintain the overall project schedule.
- Resilience: Design work can be demanding, with tight deadlines and high expectations. Being resilient in the face of challenges or setbacks is valuable to maintain a positive attitude and continue producing quality work.
- Ethical Integrity.
Physical Demands and Work Environment:
The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical demands: In the work environments described below, position requires utilizing a computer and telephone for prolonged periods of time, interpersonal and written conversation with others, transporting (up to 10 lbs.).
Work Environment: Work will be performed in an office environment and in museum spaces. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. Reasonable accommodations may be reviewed and evaluated in the case of exhibitions exceeding noise levels. Some overnight travel may be necessary.
About Crystal Bridges
The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. We explore the unfolding story of America by actively collecting, exhibiting, interpreting, and preserving outstanding American art. Crystal Bridges was founded in 2005 as a non-profit charitable organization by arts patron and chair of the museum’s board of directors, Alice Walton. Since opening to the public on 11-11-11, the museum has welcomed more than 5 million visitors and garnered 15,000 membership households. Some 280,000 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost.
Crystal Bridges takes its name from a nearby natural spring and the bridge construction incorporated in the building, designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A series of pavilions nestled around two spring-fed ponds house the galleries and amenities such as a restaurant, museum store designed by architect Marlon Blackwell, and a library featuring more than 50,000 volumes of art reference material. In addition to the museum’s architecture, a Usonian house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was preserved, acquired, and moved to the museum grounds in 2015, and a rare Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome was installed in 2017, both providing access to American architectural masterworks in a natural setting.
Sculpture and walking trails link the museum's 120-acre park to downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. A new entrance, elevator tower, and pedestrian bridge was added to the north side of the building in 2017, increasing access to the museum’s north lawn and newly enhanced North Forest Trail. More than 600,000 visitors a year utilize the museum’s five miles of walking trails.
Crystal Bridges’ permanent collection spans five centuries of American artworks from early American to the present, and is always free to view. Crystal Bridges is committed to telling broad and inclusive stories by acquiring and showcasing the highest quality works by artists underrepresented in art history and conventional museum frameworks. Works such as Asher B. Durand’s
Kindred Spirits, Gilbert Stuart’s
George Washington, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s
Jimson Weed are displayed alongside contemporary artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Maya Lin, Fritz Scholder, Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith, Felix Gonzales-Torres, and Amy Sherald represent some of the finest achievements in American art. The collection continues to grow, while the museum also offers temporary exhibitions that complement the collection and can also reveal art’s connections to equality and justice.
Crystal Bridges provides year-round programming for all ages. In 2019, more than 800 public programs and events were offered, including lectures, performances, classes, and continuing education for K-12 teachers. Crystal Bridges stays connected online with the full collection available via eMuseum, an award-winning app, a podcast called Museum Way, all available for free, and many of the museum’s lectures such as the Distinguished Speaker Series are on Crystal Bridges’ YouTube channel. An online-learning initiative provides opportunities for students and teachers with arts-based courses, as well as SmartHistory with arts history videos and essays. Crystal Bridges also offers two research fellowship programs. The Tyson Scholars in American Art program encourages and supports full-time scholarship that seeks to expand boundaries and traditional categories of investigation into American art and visual culture. The Reese Teacher Fellowship provides for research into the development of interdisciplinary connections between American art and core curriculum subjects of language arts, history, social studies, and the sciences. In addition, Crystal Bridges administers the awarding of the Don Tyson Prize, an unprecedented award recognizing significant achievements in the field of American art. Additional information about Crystal Bridges is available online at CrystalBridges.org.
About The Momentary
The Momentary is a new contemporary art space that opened to the public on February 22, 2020, in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. A satellite to Crystal Bridges, the Momentary presents visual, performing, and culinary arts. The mission of the Momentary is to champion contemporary art’s role in everyday life and explore the unfolding story of contemporary American arts in an international context by actively commissioning and exhibiting outstanding works that explore new ideas and inspire action. The Momentary was founded by the Walton family, based on the vision of Tom, Olivia, and Steuart Walton. The Walton Family Foundation is supporting this project as a way to enhance the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas. The Momentary welcomes all with free general admission. Additional offerings include an artist-in-residence program, culinary experiences including an Onyx Coffee Lab, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, an outdoor festival space, and a gift store. For more information, visit theMomentary.org. The Momentary is located at 507 SE E Street, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712.
All offers of employment are contingent on your successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement and background check. In addition, you will need to provide proper identification verifying your eligibility to work in the United States on your first day of work.
Crystal Bridges is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a culturally diverse workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. We encourage women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.