Senior Designer
Description
Who we are:
VML is a beacon of innovation and growth in an ever-evolving world. Our heritage is built upon a century of combined expertise, where creativity meets technology, and diverse perspectives ignite inspiration. With the merger of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson, we have forged a new path as a growth partner that's part creative agency, part consultancy, and part technology powerhouse.
Our global family now encompasses over 30,000 employees across 150+ offices in 64 markets, each contributing to a culture that values connection, belonging, and the power of differences. Our expertise spans the entire customer journey, offering deep insights in communications, commerce, consultancy, CRM, CX, data, production, and technology. We deliver end-to-end solutions that result in revolutionary work.
About us: The Brand ID & Design Studio
Within VML is the Brand ID & Design Studio, a group that provides brand strategy, brand naming, and brand identity for VML clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to emerging startups. We're a group of some of the strongest designers in the United States, widely respected across the agency for our purposefulness, our craft, and our skills. We strive to create a place where our designers can do their very best work and grow their careers.
The Studio is an extremely collaborative group, and we aim to empower you to become a vital collaborator quickly. That means not only working closely with fellow designers, but also presenting your work to clients, championing others’ work, staying in close communication with your team, giving and receiving constructive criticism, and helping us educate colleagues about how best to work with the Studio. We do our best to ensure every designer gets the full range of client experiences, working on projects of all sizes and touching as many parts of the design process as possible. While some of our designers have enhanced skills in specific areas that might be called upon for certain projects, we want all Studio designers to be generalists with a growth mindset to continually improve existing skills and gain new ones.
What your success in this role will look like:
Senior Designers are the clutch players of Studio project teams. They consistently deliver high-quality design thinking and often show their teams how it's done. They show up prepared, informed, and ready to dive into category immersion, identify the best design tools for the job, and deliver exceptionally polished executions across a wide range of design possibilities. They work collaboratively, ask strategic questions, challenge assumptions, and explore new pathways forward, across multiple clients or project types running concurrently.
Responsibilities as a Senior Designer include:
- Designing and crafting identity projects of all kinds, from logos to brands to visual languages and full brand identity systems, with exploration and imagination
- Contributing to projects from breakthrough conceptual generation to flawless delivery
- Taking direction from design leads and seeking opportunities to lead
- Communicating clearly in all directions across the Studio and with associated teams (campaign, account, strategy, verbal design)
- Presenting work to design leadership with confidence
- Managing a slate of ongoing projects, focusing on responsiveness, efficiency, and quality
- Working with flexibility between client, internal, and new business projects as needed
- Tracking industry and cultural trends and adapting process and directions accordingly
- Recommending improvements to the overall Brand ID & Design Studio experience
Who you are and what you bring:
- Strong experience and impeccable craft in brand identity design, visual language systems, and communication design
- Strong strategic thinking skills
- Strong presentation, communication, and critique skills
- Strong time and project management skills
- Mastery of Adobe Creative Cloud design software and associated workflows
- Basic experience using creative AI tools like Midjourney and motion design tools like AfterEffects, or a willingness to learn them upon joining the team
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience preferred
- Have a portfolio ready with multiple pieces that demonstrate excellence in the above competencies. It needs to show your design process and how you adapted it for various clients, in various project lengths, on teams of various sizes, etc.
- Write a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the role and how you see it shaping the next stage(s) of your career.
- Be aware the complete process, from applying to job offer, can take up to 6 weeks. If you're seen as a strong candidate, there will be multiple interview rounds that highlight different parts of your candidacy including project walkthroughs, skills and experiences, and culture fitness.
The base salary for this position at the time of this posting may range from $60,000 to $140,000. Individual compensation varies based on job related factors, including location, business needs, level of responsibility, experience, and qualifications. We offer a competitive benefits package, click here for more details.
At VML, we are committed to fostering an all-inclusive work environment that is both rewarding and career-forward. Our Inclusion, Equity & Belonging initiatives, alongside the VML Foundation, reflect our dedication to giving back and making a positive impact in our communities and beyond. Our people are the heartbeat of our organization-creators, doers, innovators, makers, and thinkers-who drive not just marketing, but meaningful experiences that resonate in every action and interaction.
VML is a WPP company. For more information, please visit our website, and follow VML on our social channels via Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.
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