Senior Graphic Designer – BAMPFA, UC Berkeley

Senior Graphic Designer

The Senior Graphic Design joins a forward-looking museum looking to build a highly collaborative team culture, with the opportunity to reshape and advance the brand through strong visual identity and storytelling. The position reports to the Director of Marketing & Communications, and is responsible for the ideation, execution, and implementation of compelling, dynamic visual content that positions BAMPFA’s programs and mission to a broad range of audiences—including visitors, members, and donors, as well as students, researchers, and art and film professionals, both locally and worldwide.

This position works closely with the Director of Communications & Marketing to define audience-led design that expands the museum’s brand awareness and reputation across diverse platforms and media. The Senior Graphic Designer cooperates with all BAMPFA departments to advance design strategies, tactics, and materials in support of the institutional goals.

BAMPFA seeks a highly creative individual who is versatile, motivated, and comfortable making critical creative decisions. This role requires the candidate to work on-site.

Responsibilities:

Creative Design & Implementation:

  • Conceives, produces and approves a variety of visual media, including print and digital.
  • Consults with internal stakeholders to plan and design presentation of visual information effectively and appropriate to target audiences and to the selected visual medium.
  • Key project areas include brand identity; exhibition graphics, wall labels, and building/environmental signage; quarterly program guide and other publications, such as exhibition catalogs, brochures, proposals, and reports; marketing collateral such as advertisements, slides for indoor/outdoor screens, promotional materials such as posters, postcards, and flyers, web/email/social media graphics, including animations; invitations, ticketing, and event materials; store merchandise; operational documents such as gallery plans, templates, and presentations; and other visual communications as needed.
  • Provides high level guidance on design and publishing technology, services for web and email design, expertise on printing and other production processes for final products.
  • Designs user interfaces for website and works with external developers to ensure proper implementation of the creative vision.
  • Applies advanced knowledge of production processes for a variety of media and knowledge of vendor requirements for a variety of products.

Project Management & Production:

  • Acts as primary coordinator for a wide range of institutional projects and ongoing initiatives, working closely with all departmental team members.
  • Coordinates design, production, printing/posting, and distribution of program guide and plans schedules and workflow for maximum timeliness, efficiency, and effectiveness.
  • Maintains editorial calendar and coordinates distribution of content throughout BAMPFA’s various communication channels, with an eye towards digital-first workflows where possible.
  • Functions as a key liaison between curatorial teams, frontline staff, membership, and communications.
  • Consults with web producer, publicist, and other staff to develop program-related content for the website, email, and other channels.
  • Coordinates advertising placement and schedules, including paid social media.
  • Oversees editorial and design work requests.
  • Coordinates activities including events, promotional materials, and products designed to promote awareness of the department and/or campus services, programs or products within the campus community or to the general public.
  • Helps implement and demonstrate new systems for increased institutional transparency and coherence.

Project Management:

  • Manages and tracks projects through design and production, taking ownership of deliverables through execution.
  • Works closely with project managers, writers, and other stakeholders to understand requirements, determines most appropriate media, and creates cost-effective products.
  • Coordinates schedules to deliver projects on-time and within budget.
  • Tracks and responds to edits and revisions.
  • Resizes and versions assets as required.
  • Obtains production quotes and material samples.
  • Sources new vendors and compares quality and costs as needed.
  • Clear and methodical maintenance of files, including organization, access, and archiving.
  • Attends exhibition implementation meetings to provide design direction and material advice, and participates in planning and brainstorming meetings on project-specific and broader institutional levels.
  • Prepares and delivers print-ready files to vendors, and oversees proofing processes to ensure production quality and schedules stay on track.

Institutional Expertise:

  • Develops and produces visual presentations, devising visual themes that strengthen the communication of ideas and information.
  • Assesses complex or otherwise challenging written material and data and devises the best ways to present it visually to enhance its clarity and impact.
  • Translates marketing strategies and existing design directions into effective and compelling campaigns and designs.
  • Demonstrates clear understanding of audiences and project requirements.
  • Maintains visual style and brand standards, including editorial style and treatments.
  • Follows all campus accessibility standards and incorporates into design work as required.

Leadership & Departmental Support:

  • Leads others in department to achieve project and departmental goals and objectives.
  • Works with Director of Marketing & Communications to effectively meet budget and time constraints.
  • Manages and develops vendor relationships and contracts freelancers, as needed.
  • Cultivates a growth mindset and willingness to create a positive work environment open to experimentation and change.

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in related area and/or equivalent experience/training.
  • Advanced knowledge of artistic design and creative communications concepts, best practices, and applicable software applications, with an excellent understanding of and facility with typography, color, design systems, and layout.
  • Thorough understanding of BAMPFA programs, audiences, and institutional goals, with an ability to design to meet diverse programmatic needs.
  • Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, specifically InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator, with motivation to learn new software/tools and keep skills sharp.
  • Demonstrated skills to devise nuanced design ideas, effectively present them to stakeholders, and produce results on time and within budget.
  • Excellent interpersonal communications skills, including active listening skills, the ability to work effectively within teams, and to provide advanced design advice and consultation on all aspects of visual communications.
  • Developed critical and conceptual thinking skills, with organizational mastery and proactive problem-solving/problem resolution ability.
  • Capacity to lead and mentor others.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of museum industry, and experience producing relevant assets such as exhibition graphics, wall labels, and publications.
  • Advanced knowledge of production processes for a variety of media and knowledge of vendor requirements for a variety of products.
  • Experience in preparing print-ready files and color proofing.
  • Familiarity with digital CMS and marketing platforms such as Wordfly, Mailchimp, and others, including an understanding of how designs are translated into custom themes and templates.
  • Solid understanding of best practices in UX, UI, and accessibility.

Salary and Benefits:

This is a 100% full-time (40 hrs a week) exempt career position, which is paid monthly and eligible for full UC Benefits. Annual salary is commensurate with experience within the range of $77,000.00 – $79,000.00.

Information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University is available here: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/

Application Review Date:

The First Review Date for this job is: June 23, 2022

To Apply:

Visit the UC Berkeley jobs portal and search 37390, the job number for this position. Follow the application process detailed on the website. To be considered, applications must be completed through the campus online website. Please submit your cover letter and resume as a single attachment when applying.

https://jobs.berkeley.edu/job-listings

Equal Employment Opportunity:

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant see: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/migrated_files/employers/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct

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