Visual & Communications Designer

We're seeking a Visual & Communications Designer with a strong penchant for data visualization and synthesizing information into visually compelling stories. This role is pivotal in crafting captivating, human-centered narratives around strategic content and product designs for both Fortune 100 companies and emerging ventures. This person will support a series of phases of design - engagement facilitation, conception, ideation, design, research, and go-to market. A Visual & Communications Designer at Runyon should demonstrate excellent self-management (ability to work both independently and with direction), and have the ability to easily adapt to new challenges, content, and switch fluidly between projects and clients.
At Runyon, any-and-all client facing artifacts are filtered by the visual and communications craft as we believe in the power of visual communication to drive clarity, excitement, and effectiveness in the content we present. As a user-centered, design-minded company, we prioritize crafting engaging visual narratives that captivate our audience and drive understanding.
About Runyon
Runyon is a product design and venture studio that helps companies grow. We are a team of customer-centered designers, researchers, and strategists that crafts new products, experiences and ventures. Our approach combines customer needs and behaviors with leading edge business strategy. Our work is sprint- and prototype-driven and we think about how we can craft strategies and products into the market in ways that are meaningful and measured from the start. Our team has decades of experience working with some of the largest global partners including Disney, The New York Times, American Express, Target and others.

• We're prototyping-led. We lead with tangible assumptions in the form of prototypes and test them with real stakeholders to validate and refine our strategy and design. Regardless of discipline, we think and communicate in concepts, and use those to move further, faster.
• We're detailed and intentional. We always back up our design decisions with sound reasoning-be it user research, market research, or both. We make things that make sense and that have a clear through line.
• We're fast. We work almost exclusively in sprints, and with lean teams. We need folks who like to run.
• We're collaborative. We jam as a multidisciplinary team of specialists who collectively contribute to the full spectrum of work across user research, strategy and design to arrive at high quality outcomes.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Craft compelling visual stories for the human-centered design strategies we're shaping for our partners, providing the visual excitement and information they require to build net new products and ventures
• Develop clear and compelling presentation decks to communicate complex growth strategies, technologies and systems
• Sketch concepts and testable paper prototypes as a way to bring ideas to life for collaborative team and partner sessions
• Visualize product and service opportunities for venture incubation projects and pitches
• Support immersion sessions and meetings with visually engaging exercises to effectively communicate ideas
• Execute and/or support user research and user testing of digital products or services
• Translate user insights and business requirements into innovative digital product designs that drive growth
• Listen to users at every step of the process and turn user needs into meaningful, compelling designs

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of team-based experience in communications design, visual design or product/interaction design at a design studio, innovation consultancy, or B2C/B2B company
• A portfolio of projects demonstrating breadth and depth in editorial (e.g. deck design, and reports), data visualization, and digital products (web or app experiences)
• Bachelor's degree in Design, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), or commensurate study
• Fluency in Figma, Adobe Suite, and Google Suite
• Proficiency in illustration, coding (e.g. HTML5, CSS, JS), or animation (e.g. Principle, or After Effects)
• A desire to engage with collaborative, multi-disciplinary teams which include our partners
• You thrive in ambiguity, and have a propensity to experiment with generative ideas in order to identify the most innovative and disruptive solutions
• A passion for crafting compelling visual narratives and distilling complex information into clear, impactful presentations

EXAMPLE WORKLOAD (for a 3- or 6-week sprint)

• Project Kickoff: create visual assets including presentations, preliminary research, and worksheets that help align objectives with the client, generate excitement, and kickstart the work
• Research Preparation: sketch, design, or prototype concepts in appropriate fidelity from pen-on-paper to interaction-on-screen for use in research sessions with users and experts
• Design Research: support research sessions by helping to capture notes, photograph and record participants, and provide technical support on remote sessions
• Synthesis and Refinement: revise concepts based on the key learnings from research (often expanding single screens into full flows)
• Client Readouts: design graphics and visuals to communicate research learnings, and provide assets in clients' preferred formats to facilitate the implementation of our work into their operational flows