Associate Director, Art Direction

Role Overview

Associate Director, Creative (Art Direction) at DEPT®

• Visual visionary and tactical leader responsible for defining the aesthetic direction of key accounts.
• Bridges “the big idea” and “beautiful execution” across touchpoints from social content to integrated campaigns.
• Owns visual quality while mentoring a team of designers and art directors.

Responsibilities

• Lead the visual evolution of brands across pitches and flagship projects.
• Oversee art direction with a world-class standard of design, typography, and composition.
• Guide and mentor junior to mid-level Art Directors and Designers with craft-based feedback.
• Own the visual narrative across multi-channel campaigns (film, digital, social, and physical).
• Lead production’s visual execution, including:
  • selecting photographers and directors
  • overseeing color grading, retouching, and motion design
• Act as visual authority in client meetings; explain the strategic “why” behind design choices.
• Partner with creative leadership to:
  • evolve design workflows
  • establish quality standards
  • identify new tools and AI-driven technologies to keep craft future-ready.
• Foster an inclusive, design-forward culture that encourages experimentation and learning.

Requirements

• 5+ years experience in art direction or design in a creative agency or high-growth brand environment.
• Mastery of art direction, layout, typography, and integrated visual storytelling.
• Experience leading small teams and/or overseeing freelancers and junior creatives.
• Expert-level knowledge of Figma and Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.), plus motion design or AI image generation.
• Ability to align visual decisions (e.g., color, casting) to brand identity and client business goals.
• Ability to communicate complex visual concepts to non-visual stakeholders.

Nice-to-haves

• Not explicitly stated, but experience with AI-driven tools for image generation and future-ready workflows is implied.