Job Description

In a nutshell:

IDEO is in search of a Visual Communication Design Lead to join our Cambridge studio. A Visual Communication Design Lead collaborates with teams to bring voices, stories, and concepts to life. The ideal candidate has a strong foundation in graphic design, and experience building brands from foundation to expression. Visual Communication Designers at IDEO blend strategic storytelling, artistic expression, and emotion-driven experiences to shape design offers that connect, provoke, and inspire. We're looking for designers who can lead teams and client projects across a variety of industries, and bring their unique vision and voice to each design challenge we face.

Why is this role important for IDEO’s work?

At IDEO we create positive impact through design. In this role, you’ll work through complex client challenges and tackling all aspects of the design process from user research to prototyping and communicating the overall project story to the client team. You’ll have the opportunity to work on a diverse portfolio of projects that involve data, experience, interaction, digital product, and service design. Your contributions at IDEO are more fluid and take on a variety of forms to help shape and expand your experience as a designer. This may include but not limited to, brand strategy, brand expression, storytelling, user interface, user experience, data visualization, packaging, and environmental design.

Once here you will:

• Work on projects that solve problems across a variety of client work with some of the outcomes of the work being:
  • Creating concise and compelling brands, from strategic foundations to visual identity system and expressions
  • Turning purpose and strategy into aspirational stories through visuals, writing, and other media
• Collaborate with designers with different backgrounds such as design researchers, industrial designers, business designers, and interaction designers to develop a holistic design for our clients

What does IDEO offer you?

IDEO is a place unlike any other. It’s a place where you can solve diverse, complex challenges for our clients or the organization, alongside thoughtful, intelligent individuals who lead with curiosity, empathy, and optimism. Sure we work hard, but we also intentionally craft moments that allow our community to pause, create, and connect. We encourage our community to bring their whole selves to work, respect the need for work-life balance, and allow for autonomy in the design process and your career.

Commitment to Diversity

At IDEO, we are committed to the work of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our organization and in the world. Our purpose of having disproportionate, world-changing impact through design is directly connected to our ability to bring many different perspectives to the table. This applies to our candidates, the people we hire, the clients and customers we serve, and the communities we learn from in our research.

As a human-centered organization, we are committed to working with and designing for people of every race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, physical ability or attribute, religion, national origin, or political belief. We recognize that this commitment requires ongoing work and sustained attention, as well as adaptation to new insights and best practices. Read our most recently updated Commitments to further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at IDEO here .

Relevant Experience and Mindsets:

Experience:

• Graphic design and branding experience represented through a depth and range in communication design skills (which may include but not limited to: sense of layout, color, typography) across a variety of mediums (such as print, digital, environmental).
• Concept ideation through to brand identity and expression. Examples of how this might come to life include but not limited to: strategic storytelling, immersive experiences design, motion design, visual identity system and expressions.
• Experience with design leadership, which could include mentoring junior designers, leading through craft (art direction), managing teams of multidisciplinary designers, and/or client management.
• Brand strategy design including brand purpose, personality, and positioning.
• Connect thoughts and ideas in a compelling way that can mobilize the team
• Articulate the decision-making behind design choices.
• Demonstrated experience in the work of design. This could be represented through a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, or an equivalent degree

It’s a bonus if you have knowledge/skills in illustration, prototyping, photography, brand strategy, and/or combining graphic design and motion design.

Mindsets:

• Desire to collaborate across multiple disciplines
• Ready to learn from failure and design critiques and then iterate to learn faster. Take chances without being afraid to fail and learn along the way
• Curious and proactive — a desire to learn about people’s needs and the ability to generate ideas, and get things done. Ready to pitch-in on tasks, big or small
• Generate, collect, and synthesize ideas with a curious and creative attitude.

Some previous projects to check out:

• Palmwood
• Orbia
• Alight
• d osa by DOSA

Application instructions:

To apply, please submit your resume, cover letter (yes, we read them!), and your portfolio. In your portfolio, we particularly want to hear about the process involved in developing the design or project.

Equal Opportunity Employer

IDEO is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.