Creative Director - Experiential Graphic Design

Frank Design is the Experiential Graphic Design (EGD) studio at Perkins Eastman, a global design firm. Founded in 2020, Frank Design was established to serve as successor to our former affiliate graphics firm, Russell Design. Over the last 3 years this initiative has built a portfolio of exciting work both supporting the various studios within Perkins Eastman as well as generating an independent client list.
The Frank Design studio services our existing clients, working alongside colleagues at Perkins Eastman to complement the firm's work by providing wayfinding, signage, and environmental branding for clients, both here and overseas, providing smart, innovative, and effective design.
Perkins Eastman is a global design firm with expertise that covers all aspects of the built environment. With studios in 25 locations globally, we design for people, to enhance the human experience and leave a lasting and positive impact on people's lives and the world we inhabit. This is encapsulated in our Ethos "Human by Design".
We are seeking an outstanding design leader, with a minimum of ten years of full-time experience. Our ideal candidate will be energetic, self-motivated, and a mentor who can guide and inspire the team building on the great culture and work done so far. Candidates should have excellent client facing skills and have an appetite for business development. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape and grow the reach and scope of this creative studio.
Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in applicable Design discipline, i.e. Graphic design, Branding.
• Minimum of 10 years in the profession, preferably
• Passion for great design with the ability to be stylistically flexible.
• Enjoy building Teams, mentoring staff, and partnering with colleagues.
• Strong business development and marketing skills.
• Strong verbal/written skills to communicate effectively with clients,
  fabricators, and other team members.
• People and business management acumen.
• Feeling for the built environment, and a strong typographic sense.
• Experience developing branding guidelines.
• Solid knowledge of materials used in wayfinding and signage.
• Knowledge of Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premier.
• Knowledge of SketchUp, Rhino (or similar 3D) and AutoCAD, are a plus.
• ADA and building code knowledge/experience.

Required Responsibilities:
Design

• Assists team with in-depth contextual research for projects.
• Schedules and sets agenda for internal design charettes with team and provides creative direction to support team members through verbal guidance, sketches, illustrations, and 2d/3d mood boards.
• Provides general direction and support to team in the development of key themes, narratives, and design concepts.
• Attends workshops with other practices and studios to provide thoughtful strategy and design solution input.
• Oversees the development and management of all design documents and presentations from project kick-off through closeout.
• Ensure best practices are considered in the development of projects.
• Offers design directional at pivotal points of process to challenge and enhance design opportunities.
• Conducts final round of quality control of all documents and deliverables prior to issue and/or presentation, both internally and client-facing.
• Prepares specifications, bid documents, and production-ready artwork.
• Oversees the review efforts of graphic layouts, construction documentation, mock-ups and prototypes, and production ready artwork.
• Assists with project punch-list and punch-list report as required.

Project Management

• Works closely with the Contract Manager to:

• Establish and maintain healthy and trustworthy internal PE, client, vendor and fabricator relationships.
• Complete new project PIW forms to align with approved scope of work and fees.
• Coordinate key project meetings and deliverables with project and client teams, including project-kickoffs, workshops, etc.
• Review and process all monthly projects and printing invoices.
• Ensure staff utilization in PE Vision reflects current workloads for all projects.
• Monitor all project budgets in PE Vision and adjust work-plan to ensure all projects stay within budget and on schedule.
• Support PE Marketing and studios with EGD specific RFP responses.
• Develop responses to RFP requests including design narratives, scope of work, professional fees, etc.
• Produce Add Service and Change Order requests.
• Host a weekly team meeting to discuss team utilization and pending deadlines.
• Propose thoughtful solutions to team utilization concerns.
  • Supports Senior Designers through all phases of projects, as necessary.
  • Ensures all team members are supported and set up for success.
  • Consider and implement more efficient management and design processes.
• Represents and promotes the vision and values of Perkins Eastman and Frank to engage and develop new business opportunities.
• Establishes Working Group and Key Stakeholder relationships, defines project objectives and communication protocols, and schedule parameters at project kick-off meetings.
• Prepares for and attends weekly Studio leadership meetings (NB, Staffing).
• Participates in Weekly and Monthly Studio Meetings.
• Prepares and presents Frank pitch presentations for new business opportunities.
• Conducts ongoing outreach to studio Principals and staff to understand potential opportunities for collaboration.
• Works closely with the Contract Manager and Senior Designer to coordinate daily/ weekly team utilization and adjust teamwork-flow as required to ensure on-time delivery of all submittals.
• Establishes and upholds trustworthy working relationships with internal PE teams, clients, vendors, and fabricators, and acts as a daily point of contact.
• Is prepared to present at internal and client-facing meetings, as required.
• Leads teleconference meetings, in-person reviews, and presentations with clients, fabricators.
• Supports and assists the Senior Designer through the development of design documents (all project deliverables and presentations), as required.

• Schedules internal milestones to ensure projects are running efficiently to meet schedule and budget parameters.
• Is well-informed of all municipal and building code requirements for projects.
• Mentors and encourages team to foster a positive work environment.
• Provides critical, inspiring, and thoughtful feedback to team members.

Professional Development

• Pro-actively seeks to expand knowledge of branded environments, interpretive programs, wayfinding systems, information design, identity, and multimedia installations through self-discovery (blogs, books, journals, lectures, events, etc.).
• Attends local design events and/or lectures and shares takeaways with the team.
• Pro-actively seeks to expand design and management skill set (Graphic Design, team management, business management, presentation, etc.), and encourages other team members to do the same.
• Actively participates in, and utilizes the professional networking resources of local Graphic Design or EGD focused organizations (i.e. SEGD, AIGA).
• PE reimburses membership fees for one organization.
• Encourages team members to attend local events and lectures.
• Develops team players through leading by example in:
  • Respecting team members' time, thoughts, creative ideas, and expression.
  • Fostering a positive work environment.
  • Offering thoughtful guidance and solutions to challenges and problems.
  • Putting people before projects.
• Mentors and develops team members by providing guidance and resources.

Be sure to visit: https://perkinseastman.com/frank/ and www.perkinseastman.com to understand the scope and depth of our established portfolio.
Type: We are a Hybrid Model, flexible days/working hours
Compensation may vary based on the job level and your geographical work location.
Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefits, medical, dental, vision plans, 401K, life insurance, Paid Time Off (PTO), company paid holidays, professional development, commuter benefits, FSA, and HSA.
Perkins Eastman is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and a participant in the U.S. Federal E-Verify program. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.