Art Director (Lifestyle & Cooking), Barnes & Noble - Est Salary: $100K - $110K
Location: NYC
Job Summary
Union Square & Co. is seeking a highly organized, motivated, and creative art director to join our team, working primarily on cooking and lifestyle titles. Union Square has recently relaunched, and we are looking for an experienced art director to join our team and help steer the visual direction as we create a strong new voice in the lifestyle and cooking markets.
The ideal candidate will have a background in heavily illustrated cooking titles, as well as other photographic or illustration-driven gift books. They will be well versed in the current market trends in cookbooks, from photographic styles to font selection, and have a strong knowledge of packaging and print production. We are looking for an energetic creative who is looking to grow with UNSQ as we expand into new categories. A love of food, photography, and a passion for books—and organizing information—is a must.
This is a hybrid position requiring 2 - 3 days/week in our NYC headquarters.
An employee in this position can expect an annual starting rate between $100,000 and $110,000.
What You Do
· Conceptualizes and generates creative and innovative designs for covers & interiors of lifestyle and cooking titles.
· Works with the Design and Creative Director to maintain the highest quality of design and productions standards while keeping on track with deadlines.
· Oversees all stages of preparation including file preparation, text spilling and styling, color correction, and reviewing printer proofs.
· Maintains ongoing communications and schedules with the Editorial and Production departments to ensure timely execution and follow-through from manuscript to bound book for all projects.
· Commissions and manages freelance designers and illustrators when required.
· Ensures that the designs fulfill UNSQ’s high standards, and represent the brand and the author appropriately.
· Attends weekly status and design meetings.
· Works closely with all members of the Art Department to increase productivity, communication, collaboration, design creativity and quality.
· Supervises mechanical work given to the Production Designer and/or interns as needed.
· Provides mentorship of junior staff members.
· Stays abreast of changes in publishing industry, design trends and of new techniques that will improve the efficiency and creativity.
Position Key Relationships:
• Works closely with Creative, Design, Editorial, and Photo directors to collaborate on best approaches for assigned titles.
• Works on a daily basis with individual editors to develop design concepts, mood boards, cover concepts, sample pages, and interior layouts for assigned projects.
• Coordinates with Publicity, Marketing, and Sales Departments to ensure that collateral is provided for Catalog and various Marketing and Sales presentations and projects.
Knowledge & Experience
· Minimum 5-7 years cookbook design experience
· 4 year college degree preferably in Graphic Design, or equivalent work experience
· Proficient in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator
· Experience with directing photo shoots, creating mood boards, and researching photographers and illustrators
· Experience negotiating contracts with illustrators and designers; experience managing illustrators through assignments on large scale, multi-page documents.
· Detailed knowledge of pre-press requirements for print: manufacturing process, proofing, and color correction.
· Ability to multi-task and prioritize.
· Proven ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment.
**Please submit samples with your application in order to be considered for this position.**