Senior Art Director, The Envelope (Temporary)
Job Description: The Los Angeles Times is seeking a temporary senior art director to join its features team with a focus on entertainment. The ideal candidate has experience working in magazines and digital media, commissioning and art-directing illustrations, with a portfolio that shows off high-level skills in design, typography and visual storytelling. They will be excited about championing brand consistency, driving visuals and have a passion for entertainment and pop culture. This person will be comfortable working under the deadlines of a busy newsroom and be willing to roll up their sleeves when needed to build story layouts for our digital stories, design branding for newsletters or podcasts and create photo illustrations. We want to make the visual voice of the Los Angeles Times truly special – a creative reflection of Los Angeles – and are looking for an energetic collaborator to join our team.
The senior art director will be a key player in leading and evolving our award-winning entertainment magazine and brand, The Envelope, and ensuring visual consistency across print and digital channels while staying on top of current design trends. If you love collaborative brainstorming and have the hands-on design and production skills to execute big ideas, we'd love to hear from you.
In this role you will:
Design and produce seasonal issues of The Envelope magazine using Newsgate/CUE
Design, art-direct and coordinate the digital builds of our stories using our CMS
Collaborate with reporters, editors and other visual journalists to tell stories with impact
Commission and art-direct freelance illustrators
Create photo illustrations
Develop innovative design ideas and approaches to storytelling
Organize and take the lead on digital design projects such as Instagram accounts or newsletters, as well as coach designers to do the same
Create branding for new initiatives
Seek out new illustrator portfolios to add to our inclusive database of illustrators, with an emphasis on L.A. artists
Learn and follow style guidelines
Work with design managers to ensure brand coherence
Experiment with what we can do as digital designers
Lead meetings
Create and maintain organizational documents
Work with design directors to train and develop new hires and interns
Job Requirements:
Six to 10 years of experience as an art director in magazine design
A portfolio of work that demonstrates excellence in typography, art direction and photo editing
Excellent time-management skills
Experience assigning and art-directing illustrations
Ability to work effectively in a team environment
Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
Strong editorial news judgment, impeccable journalistic instincts and an unimpeachable commitment to ethics
High energy and enthusiasm for journalism and visual storytelling
A keen eye for current design trends and the ability to create designs in a variety of styles
Demonstrated ability to design for daily digital stories and social media
Ability to work on a tight deadline, especially in breaking news situations
Strong working knowledge of design software such as InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
A history of designing and developing alternate story forms
Positive self-starter capable of performing under pressure and making good decisions
Experience with animation, motion graphics or After Effects a plus
Strong knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript not required, but a plus
This full-time, temporary position is expected to last six months. We will consider candidates who would work remotely in other time zones as well as those who would work in El Segundo, Calif. Occasional night and weekend work is possible.
Qualified candidates should submit a resume, cover letter and portfolio to Senior Deputy Design Director Faith Stafford.
Type of Job: Design
City: Los Angeles / Remote OK
State/Country: California
Duration: Temporary
Benefits: No
Company: L.A. Times
About Our Company: The L.A. Times is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all qualified applicants regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We actively work to create an inclusive environment where all of our employees can thrive. Explore our company history, achievement, values, mission and more on our career site.
Contact Name: Faith Stafford
Contact Email: faith.stafford@latimes.com
How to Apply: Apply online here: https://us241.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/nantmedia/Posting/View/342 and/or submit a resume, cover letter and portfolio to Senior Deputy Design Director Faith Stafford