Position Overview
The Interactive Art Director reports to the Creative Director and possesses the ability to take abstract concepts and minimal visualization and turn them into visually exciting, cutting-edge concepts that are Web-friendly, easy to navigate, representative of the client's goals, within branding guidelines, communicative of information architecture, and provide outstanding user experiences. The goal is to generate unique and forward-thinking digital solutions for our client’s branding, marketing and advertising challenges. The Interactive Art Director is someone who can lead through word & action and whose work will have a significant impact on the agency
The Interactive Art Director’s role is to brainstorm and come up with ideas. The Interactive Art Director will generally be the most senior ‘hands-on' creative for an interactive design project or creative campaign. They will understand branding and also oversee the correct briefing and supervision of the rest of the design team. The most important aspect of interactive art direction is the ability to create the “concept.”
The Interactive Art Director understands the full breadth of assigned client brands, responsibly shepherding strategy & concept development to brand-beneficial resolutions and managing creative execution on client projects with the design & copy teams. Additionally, the role is a prime contributor to all concept development sessions and creative process evolutions. Creativity is a process, and we will want to know about yours.
Qualifications
- Qualified candidates are exceptional designers. They are creative, smart, motivated, strategic, detail-oriented, motivated, fast, and fun to be around. They balance beauty, usability, business needs, technology issues, and understand the need for compromise. They can handle multiple projects and can deal with pressure. They have a good attitude and good judgment. Qualified candidates have a BA in graphic design or computer science, and 5+ years designing digital experiences. Consulting or agency experience is desired. This is not an entry level position. All applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S.
- Flexibility, good judgment and attention to detail
- Proven problem-solving skills
- Positive attitude and sense of humor are essential
- Strong conceptual skills and strategic thinking
Develop or extend campaigns into interactive media that are strategically sound, instantly compelling and highly engaging.
Advanced, hands-on command of skills needed to execute concepts with HTML, JavaScript and Flash. Skills in cascading style sheets (CSS), e-commerce and server side technologies are desirable. Knowledge of Silverlight and .NET a plus!
Experience managing and being accountable for meeting internal and external deadlines for multiple clients.
Proven ability to clearly explain and successfully sell great interactive creative both internally and externally.
Responsibilities
Responsible for both the visual appearance and the usability of digital material
- Must have solid command of traditional design principles, standard software tools and experience working with photographers, illustrators, flash developers and software/web developers
- Work on all phases of visual design: from a creative brief through conceptual design to design production
- Work side-by-side with software/web developers to ensure the overall creative solution delivers on user requirements
- Develop creative concepts and push the limits of design to create award-winning interactive programs
- Present creative concepts to clients and defend creative license
- Incorporate client feedback as appropriate
- Create feature sets, navigational schemes, and style guides of overall look and feel-tone, comps, or page layouts
- Create storyboards and animation as needed
- Produce graphics and HTML code as needed
- Review work of interactive designers, mentor and empower them to do great work
- Follow the creative process and help interactive designers with the creative process
- Perform other duties as assigned
- Analyze client needs and understand the competitive landscape
- Infuse emotional appeal into our interactive solutions
- Stay up with current style trends and create your own
- Create beautiful screen layouts, color palettes, typography, user interface elements, and icons
- Design for mobile screens, touch screens, TV screens, iPhone as well as PC-based web apps
- Deliver compelling motion design for emotional interest and to support usability
- Create concept prototypes in Flash
- Create visual specifications for application development
- Articulate creative rationale for design decisions to internal team and clients.
- Generate unique digital advertising concepts with the creative team
- Create & direct eye-opening designs that fully realize these concepts in website and online media
- Challenge us & our clients to look at our creative in new ways
Minimum Requirements
Strong design portfolio and 5+ years of hands-on interactive web design/art direction in agency (or in-house agency) interactive experience
- A strong understanding of user experience
- Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Action Script is a plus. In-depth knowledge of HTML and animation software such as Shockwave is also a plus
- Ability to understand the "big picture" of the project and how it fits with the strategy, full consumer experience and client expectations
- Ability to function as the creative liaison between clients and the agency
- Experience mentoring creative teams with objective guidance and feedback
- Ability to develop, present and sell creative concepts to clients. The ability to sell your work both internally and externally is critical
- Internet experience and a degree in design or computer science
- Ability to collaborate closely with others in a team environment under tight deadlines
- Ability to manage small design teams throughout a project life cycle
- Interface design experience allowing users to navigate through large volumes of content easily and dynamically, often including database interaction
- Ability to clearly articulate and present designs to clients and communicate consistent style guidelines that can be efficiently executed
- Ability to work within a very dynamic environment
- Create concepts and layouts for Flash mini-sites, online ad units and full-scale multimedia and database driven Web sites
- Web and broadcast animation skills are a plus. A devotion to building brands and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and help get the job done are key attributes
- Ability to take a creative approach to problem solving for the web, online and mobile
- Assist in graphic production of Web layouts
- Dedicated and competitive work ethic, team player, and sense of humor
Compensation
We offer a competitive salary, excellent benefits and work/life balance, flexible work schedule and relaxed dress code. If you meet our qualifications and are seriously interested in this position, apply online today or submit your resume and salary history to hr@creatavivendi.com. To learn more about CreataVivendi, Inc. go to www.creatavivendi.com.
In addition to a competitive salary, excellent benefits and work/life balance, we offer:
- Medical/Vision/Dental Coverage
- Group Term Life Insurance
- Short-term and Long-term Disability Insurance
- 401k Retirement Plan
- 15 Days of Paid Time Off
- 10 Days of Paid Company Holidays
- Flexible, Family-Friendly Schedules and Work Environment
How to Apply
If you are highly qualified and seriously motivate, please forward the following IMMEDIATELY:
- Updated resume
- URL Link to your portfolio and examples of your work
- Cover letter with a brief overview of related experience and salary requirements
Email your resume, cover letter and online portfolio to: hr@creatavivendi.com. Please put "Interactive Art Director" in the Subject line.