Art Director, University Communications

Department Overview

The Office of University Communications at the University of Virginia is responsible for telling the remarkable and evolving story of UVA. Our team of writers, artists, strategists, communicators, and brand stewards proudly celebrate, promote, and publicize the University’s iconic reputation, accomplishments, brand, and history. University Communications works to inform and inspire audiences, ensuring the University’s impact is widely recognized across the UVA community, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and beyond.

University Communications seeks an art director to help support the office’s core mission:
Through effective and engaging communications and marketing, we promote and strengthen the University’s brand, showcase UVA as a model of excellence in higher education, and elevate the University’s reputation. Reporting to the associate creative director, the art director will provide design services in support of broad University priorities. They will translate strategy into clear, effective, and on‑brand design approaches in digital and print mediums.

• Applying design as a tool to support strategic goals.
• Working as a member of the University Communications Creative Team and broader University design community to ensure that all design content is excellent and elevates the University of Virginia brand.
• Creating design content for marketing, digital, news, and licensing projects and campaigns across a range of platforms, including artwork needed for daily news and social media production and design work to support new or redesigned websites.
• Collaborating with other Creative Team professionals including photographers and video producers to provide art direction and assist in the creation of projects, campaigns, and initiatives.
• Utilizing design techniques, tools and principles, and advanced layout and typography to articulate the University’s brand in fresh, effective, and accessible ways.
• Employing the University’s graphic standards, techniques, methods, and style guides and developing standards for the institution, where relevant.
• Producing design enhancements that bring content to life in digital and traditional spaces.
• Working productively as part of a talented, creative and high‑performing office team that includes other designers, marketing and licensing professionals, video producers, photographers, web developers, digital content specialists, writers, editors, and media engagement professionals.
• Participating in creative briefings, project meetings, design review, and team meetings.
• Working with the associate creative director to ideate and develop concepts, ensure production tracking of day‑to‑day work, and estimate timelines for delivery of creative work.
• Coordinating and collaborating with internal teams and external partners to ensure that their project needs are met.
• Presenting design concepts to cross‑departmental team members and leadership and clearly explaining rationales for designs.

The successful candidate will be conversant with current design and digital trends with experience executing advertising and marketing concepts across a wide variety of print and digital platforms. They will have demonstrated understanding of page layout, typography, color theory, and application of assets such as photography, illustration, and other digital graphics. They will also have experience in the creation of marketing materials that are in keeping with an established brand identity, in articulating creative strategies, and in maintaining high visual standards.

• Conversant with current design and digital trends with experience executing advertising and marketing concepts across a wide variety of print and digital platforms.
• Collaborative, deadline‑driven, eager to learn and take creative direction, and able to manage several projects at once in a competent manner.
• A highly creative, conceptual thinker with advanced knowledge of design techniques, tools and principles.
• Competence in graphic design and photo editing software, including Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) and Figma, and Microsoft Office (Word,…