Mid-Level Designer

The Spectator is a unique magazine with strong brand loyalty. It sits in a niche market with an audience that has a high propensity to subscribe. We are a globally recognised and trusted brand and source of current affairs commentary.

We are the oldest magazine in the world and yet we behave like a start-up. We are agile and fast moving, able to adapt and change without bureaucratic red tape.

We are looking for a passionate mid-level designer to help us improve our presence across print, digital, social, and video.

You will work across all departments – from editorial to events, digital to marketing. One day you could be creating assets for articles online and repurposing them to be used across our social channels; next, creating commercial advertorials for print, producing branding campaigns or events marketing.

You’re the kind of person who is:

• Incredibly passionate about design. You will understand how effectively to utilise and implement the brand’s visual guidelines, interpret campaign visual identities appropriately, and have a strong grasp of visual grammar. You have strong opinions on what looks good, are keen to avoid stock image cliches and you keep up to date with changing trends in both print and digital media.
• Passionate about print. You must understand our brand, our magazine and what makes us special.
• A team player, who can absorb feedback constructively and can muck in to support others.
• A stickler for strong visual branding.
• Conceptual, and can develop impactful, original, and on-brand content creation with creative flair.
• Agile – we operate in a business of tight deadlines. It’s an exciting pace and you’ll need to be able to adapt your projects to short turnarounds.
• A brilliant communicator. You’ll be collaborating with editors, developers, and journalists to brainstorm how best to visually bring our stories to life.
• Interested in current affairs and keeping up to date with the current news agenda. This will go a long way when designing marketing campaigns and events branding.
• Keen to learn. You will want to develop a love for storytelling, building your own creative/technical skillset and helping the brand evolve.

You’ll have the following:

• Experience working with a creative/marketing team – minimum 2 years
• Excellent layout and typographic skills
• Competent image editing/retouching capability
• Fluency acrossAdobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop and After Effects
• Have the ability to animate as well as design
• An exciting portfolio of design work

Additional skills useful for the role:

• Skill in digital/traditional illustration mediums would be a real asset and/or experience working with illustrators
• Knowledge of Figma

To apply:

We would like you to complete a design task.
Please email designerrole@spectator.co.uk to receive further instructions.

Please note that your application will not be processed without completing the design task.

Closing date for applications is 23 April 2024. If you have not received a response from us by 30 April 2024, please assume that on this occasion you have not been shortlisted for an interview.