Art Director; Beverage

Overview

The Role
: visual innovator / data guzzler / art & design driver—the Art Director, Beverage, is a highly motivated, enthusiastic person with a background in graphic design & art direction who is driven by innovation, data, creativity, and design. They work well independently and as part of a team, in a deadline-driven atmosphere with shifting priorities. The role requires a self-starter who can lead projects, collaborate within the beverage creative team, and delegate/manage designers and freelancers as needed.

The Art Director will take a project from concept to final delivery across brand campaigns, photo/video shoots, promotional campaigns, trade materials for on- & off-premise needs, creative for strategic partnerships, and launch materials (sales, collateral, field, event), including digital (social, websites). The Art Director must be proficient in presenting (creation/optimization of creative presentations) to obtain cross-functional buy-in and graciously take direction from inputs, including working with external vendors.

A keen attention to detail, contributions to continuous process improvements, and a willingness to understand the evolving hemp THC beverage landscape are required.

This is a hybrid role – 2 days in office at our Chicago (River North) office.

• Lead (or work from initial direction) the creation of new (or evolution of existing) creative executions for Beverage Creative initiatives across various channels (paid social, packaging, photo/video shoots, campaigns, collateral, POS, merch/swag), for multiple States, while ensuring Brand standards are maintained across multiple brands
• Provide brand / design / creative insights & feedback to external vendor partners
• Collaborate with fellow designers & Creative leaders to initiate creative concepts from start to finish, utilizing new or existing resources to provide innovative, in-budget approaches to given briefs and project requests
• Ability to clearly communicate design vision and creative intent via storyboards / mood boards and other tools while delegating to other creatives
• Actively participate in the creative process by asking questions, voicing opinions, and effectively collaborating with stakeholders to determine project needs
• Lead multiple projects and work with multiple disciplines at one time
• Lead art direction for photo/video shoots based on brand-provided creative briefs in collaboration with the creative producer
• Manage and provide direction for internal designers, outside vendors / freelancers / contractors as needed
• Organize and maintain digital files via shared storage, DAM and project management system ()
• Work closely with BEAT, Innovation & Non-Dispensary teams to ensure materials are produced accurately and on-time
• Ensure that project outputs meet technical requirements for delivery across multiple channels while ensuring brand consistency throughout
• Ensure project objectives are successfully met through effective collaboration with leadership, internal, cross divisional, and external partners as projects require
• Ensure state guidelines and requirements are being met

• Bachelor’s degree, preferred
• 7+ years of experience in Graphic Design & Art Direction, either within a design firm, advertising agency, or an internal creative marketing team;
  Experience working within the alc/bev industry and a high growth company would be highly beneficial
• Experience managing designers & freelance vendors preferred
• An exceptional digital portfolio showcasing innovative concepts and creative solutions (please include a link or attachment with your application)
• Experience in making performance-focused ads for Facebook/ Instagram, Tik Tok, You Tube and other paid media channels
• Expertise in Adobe Creative suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign (After Effects, Sketch, a plus); proficiency in Figma; strong proficiency w/ Microsoft Office suite & project management systems
• The ability to pre-build and create templated graphic packages for motion gfx/video editors
• Knowledge of AI design tools and how they can be harnessed to increase production efficiencies without sacrificing quality is a plus
• Excellent at maintaining…