Art Director

Job Description:\n\n POSITION DESCRIPTION Title & Reporting Relationships Position Title: Art Director Reports to: Creative Director / Cofounder Department: Creative Services Oversees: Direct Reports – Graphic Designers, Photographers, Videographers, Photo/Video Editors (inhouse and freelance) Interactions: Ecom, Merch & Design, Digital Marketing, Content & Community, PR, Ambassadors Main Purpose and Major Challenges of the Role The role of Art Director is responsible for consistent creative execution across all brands, all consumer touchpoints, and all mediums aligned with the GTM calendar.

The Art Director is responsible to translate the overall vision and concept for each season into clear and inspiring creative briefs that elevate our brand’s (OK/FW/SD) storytelling—focusing on the digital, print, retail, wholesale, and product assets and communications—while directly managing and delegating workflow across all graphic designers for all brand channels.

This includes ownership of all photography and video content—from planning and production through execution and editing—ensuring visual storytelling is aligned with the brand’s seasonal and overarching narratives across every channel.

Must be a respected creative professional with a proven track record for planning, overseeing, and managing the execution of visual communications across the premium brand landscape and experience.

This role requires a deep-rooted understanding of the Outerknown, Firewire, and Slater Designs brands, culture, and lifestyle to create the most authentic communications and brand experiences across all brand channels to inspire our passionate community to engage with the brands daily to achieve our business objectives.

This position reports into the Creative Director, translates the seasonal conceptual vision into actionable plans and art direction, and manages the Creative Services team in the delivery of all brand assets according to the GTM calendar, with omnichannel integrated alignment (cohesion and unity across Digital, Print, Vertical Retail, & Wholesale channels). A critical part of this role is translating the vision into clear presentations (video storyboards, marketing campaign briefs, and photoshoot briefs) that drive and deliver the assets across all brand channels from concept through design and activation.

This role will work cross-functionally, in close partnership with all creative, product, and marketing stakeholders to ensure briefs optimize the potential of all stories in line with the company GTM Calendar.

They must be a great individual contributor capable of creating from a blank canvas, who is also an excellent and organized manager, capable of unlocking the potential of the Creative Services team.

They must be extremely well-versed in all aspects of graphic design (Digital and Print), photography and video production (pre-production, shoot direction, and post-production editing), and be prepared to roll up their sleeves and be a critical player in contributing to a finely coordinated omni-channel launch culture that drives the OK/FW/SD business.

KEY COLLABORATORS: Creative Director: Translate and execute the “Find Your Outerknown” brand vision and feeling across all brand communications and experiences.

Be deliberate with every decision – the smallest details matter across OK/FW/SD.Sr.

Director of Merch & Design: To communicate the product design intent, innovation, and purpose in the most inspiring and meaningful ways for men and women.

Evoke Feelings, not just transactions.Director of Digital Brand Marketing & GTM: Design and Deliver compelling and clear communications including photography and video that deliver on the GTM calendar across OK/FW/SD, and drive results across all business objectives.

CROSS-CHANNEL COLLABORATION: Develop premium brand communications for OK/FW/SD, elevating our storytelling across all mediums and environments in collaboration with graphic designers, product designers, merchants, photographers, videographers (internal and external), copywriters, and other creative professionals to bring brand concepts to life.

Build inspiring visual briefs that capture the full potential of design intent, innovation, and vision for all of our products in order to deliver the most authentic, inspirational, & aspirational comms and experiences across all brand channels.Elevate our brand experience by working closely with Creative Director & Director of Digital Brand Marketing to ensure all brand ambassadors/surf team members are utilized in the most timely and true ways.Collaborate closely with our Director of Digital Brand Marketing and with cross-functional partners to ensure all content is aligned with the product flow strategy as outlined in the GTM calendar.Partner with the social team, ambassadors, and staff to deliver inspiring content in line with strategic needs.Oversee outside contractors hired for specific brand executions.

These must be approved ahead of time in keeping with budgets and business objectives.Pivotal collaborations include all members of the Creative Services/Marketing to deliver inspiring assets in line with the briefs.

Examples of assets include daily emails, paid digital, monthly catalogues, retail POP, product packaging, and all other elements of the modern-day omni-channel experience.

This includes ownership of photography and video execution across all of these touchpoints—from pre-production planning to post-production editing—ensuring a consistent and elevated visual standard.

CONCEPTUALIZATION: IDEATION & DESIGN Brainstorm & research references and themes in partnership with the Creative Director while collaborating with fellow Directors that become the foundation for seasonal collections, collaborations, content, and experiences.

This includes all brand communications, and retail/event experiences.

Photography and video concepts should be developed in tandem with campaign ideas, with a clear vision for how motion and stills will support storytelling across channels.These concepts must be presented in clear, organized and inspirational ways and translated into briefs for campaigns, product launches, and brand initiatives based on the GTM calendar.

Briefs must include direction for photo and video production, including visual references, shot lists, casting considerations, and locations.Strong ability to cite clear cultural references (people, eras, products, influences) past, present, and future with a deep understanding of surf culture is critical to the success of this role.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION: OWNING PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO Lead the conceptualization, planning, and execution of all visual assets across photography and video—including seasonal lifestyle, PDP, and product content—ensuring brand storytelling is elevated, cohesive, and aligned across all touchpoints.Own the end-to-end creative development of photo and video—developing mood boards, defining shoot locations, casting, styling direction, and shot lists to ensure the most authentic, relevant, and compelling brand expression.Integrate brand ambassadors and team riders into photo and video concepts in close collaboration with Creative Director & Director of Digital Brand Marketing, ensuring a culturally relevant and brand-aligned presence across campaigns.Must be a strong photo editor, selecting the best imagery to deliver on the objective of the brief.

This includes the ability to incorporate the best crops and adjust images as they are being incorporated into designs.

Adjustments could include retouching additional elements that the photo team missed or utilizing specific photo treatments that work with the design elements of the asset.Oversee and guide video creative including narrative structure, direction, and all supporting graphic elements (title cards, motion graphics, branding treatments) to ensure consistency and quality across channels.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION OVERSIGHT: DIGITAL & PRINT Oversee the design and production of all digital assets including, but not limited to, daily emails, paid digital, online experiences, journey stories, etc., incorporating all elements of graphic design, photography, video, and copywriting to ensure quality and consistency.Today we do most of our business on Outerknown.com (our International Flagship), and you will work closely with the Director of Digital Brand Marketing and Ecomm teams to ensure that our web experiences inspire and drive conversion.Oversee the design and production of all printed materials such as catalogues and marketplace assets (look books, selling tools, retail POP), incorporating all elements of graphic design, photography, and copywriting to ensure quality and consistency.The Art Director must have all skills necessary to design and deliver all assets 100% on their own.

Beyond overseeing and directing the process, there will be many times when due to calendar overlap or staff being out, that the Art Director will be solely responsible for designing and delivering the assets.Graphics & Art: Work with CD on concepts.

Responsible to design, and oversee all wearable print and graphics for apparel, accessories, collaborations, etc.Trims & Details: Support the product design and development teams on all design needs for product labels, trims and details.This role will also guide how video content is formatted and integrated across digital and print touchpoints, from embedded web stories to QR-linked print extensions, ensuring all media is creatively aligned and optimized for channel.

STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLS & PROCESS: Must be competent in Asana and/or similar technology as we use it to project manage all briefs to activation for all communications.You will design, develop, and execute visual strategies specific to the GTM calendar that align with all brand marketing goals and business objectives.In partnership with the Director of Digital Brand Marketing & GTM, you will run point in coordinating all creative efforts and resources to deliver on GTM objectives.This includes full oversight of photo and video production—owning timelines, budgets, talent coordination, shot lists, and post-production workflows—to ensure all content is delivered on time and aligned with campaign strategy.Must be ready to take historical selling information and rigorous data analysis to inform future creative decisions.

TEAM MANAGEMENT: Must be experienced in leading creative teams, with a strong ability to navigate artistic temperaments while being able to balance the art and science of delivering creative that drives results.You will lead by example, overseeing a team of designers, providing clear guidance and intelligent direction on all projects.You will also direct freelance photographers, videographers, editors, and stylists—ensuring that all visual assets are delivered with a consistent aesthetic, strategic focus, and high production value.Must be confident managing photo and video production crews, clearly communicating expectations, and providing thoughtful, efficient feedback from pre-production through post.

TREND ANALYSIS: Working closely with the Creative Director and peers, must be well-versed and up to date on current fashion and product trends, market trends, and cultural shifts, to ensure the brand's visual identity remains relevant and innovative.A deep understanding of surf culture (past, present and future), including the people, places, legend and lore is critical to the success of this role.Stay informed on evolving trends in photography, video storytelling, and content consumption across platforms to ensure we stay ahead of the pack.

BUDGET MANAGEMENT: Responsible for tracking all projects through the creative services budget to ensure that we are working within the budgets allowed.Close collaboration with Creative Director and the Director of Digital Brand Marketing to ensure we stay within the budgets allocated.We are nimble and scrappy.

Must have a solutions-first mentality and be willing to get creative to come up with ideas to make magic happen even when budget, time, and resources are limited.This includes managing photo and video production budgets, working with production teams and freelancers to find cost-effective solutions while maintaining high-quality standards across assets.

QUALITY CONTROL: The Art Director is a critical component of how our brand experience shows up in every brand channel, and how our design intent is communicated to our community every day.

EVERYTHING COUNTS; DETAILS MATTER.Ensure that all brand visuals & comms meet quality standards and brand guidelines consistently across all channels.This includes ensuring that all photography and video content meet the same high standards of quality, style, and consistency.

From lighting and composition to editing and final execution, every visual element must align with the brand's aesthetic vision.We are selling a feeling.

Every picture, word, and design decision down to the smallest detail matters.

Our goal is to capture the soul of this feeling across all channels, as we roll out the future of the OK/FW/SD experience.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS: Proven Art Direction experience across creative and marketing for premium lifestyle brands, with a strong track record of successful campaigns and projects.Must be an experienced Graphic Designer with a deep understanding of all digital design platforms, tools, technologies, and apps.Must have proven experience in overseeing photography and video production, from conceptualization to final execution, including working with photographers, videographers, editors, and other production teams.Strong leadership and managerial skills, with the ability to build and motivate high-performing teams - both directly and cross-functionally.Excellent project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.Ability to craft, refine and forecast budgets and associated financial reconciliation.Ability to direct traffic via Assana (or similar tracking app) and schedule talent and workloads in keeping with evolving needs of the business.Expert skill in the Adobe Creative Suite Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite Proficiency in marketing analytics and data-driven decision-making as it relates to delivering creative.

Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.Strong communication and interpersonal skills.Strong tendency towards communication and collaboration, particularly while working under strict deadlines.

Understanding of conceptual creative and brand work within apparel or hardgoods.

Experience working with photo and video content management systems and production schedules is essential.Ability to remain flexible during changing priorities and business needs while adapting to changing market trends and industry dynamics.Bachelor's Degree in Design, Graphic Design, Marketing, Art, or a related field or equivalent experience.A genuine enthusiasm f

Full-time