About us: Brand Design at VML

Within VML is the Brand Design studio, a group that provides brand strategy, brand naming, and brand identity for VML clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to emerging startups. We’re a group of some of the strongest designers in the United States, widely respected across the agency for our purposefulness, our craft, and our skills. We strive to create a place where our designers can do their very best work and grow their careers.

Brand Design is an extremely collaborative group, and we aim to empower you to become a vital collaborator quickly. That means not only working closely with fellow designers, but also presenting your work to clients, championing others’ work, staying in close communication with your team, giving and receiving constructive criticism, and helping us educate colleagues about how best to work with the studio. We do our best to ensure every designer gets the full range of client experiences, working on projects of all sizes and touching as many parts of the design process as possible. While some of our designers have enhanced skills in specific areas that might be called upon for certain projects, we want all studio designers to be generalists with a growth mindset to continually improve existing skills and gain new ones.

What your success in this role will look like

Designers are indispensable contributors who consistently deliver high-quality and prolific design solutions. They view each project, communication, and collaboration as a learning opportunity. They receive and integrate feedback thoroughly and demonstrate growth each time. They’re on the front lines of learning new tools and technologies. And they continually surprise and delight with thoughtful and innovative creative thinking. The tools and approaches Designers practice not only make them brand identity generalists; they also prepare them for lifelong careers as design leaders.

Responsibilities as a Designer include:

• Designing and crafting identity projects of all kinds, from logos to brands to visual languages and full brand identity systems, with exploration and imagination
• Contributing to projects from breakthrough conceptual generation to flawless delivery
• Taking direction from design leads and seeking opportunities to lead
• Communicating clearly in all directions across the studio and with associated teams (campaign, account, strategy, verbal design)
• Presenting work to design leadership with confidence
• Managing a slate of ongoing projects, focusing on responsiveness, efficiency, and quality
• Working with flexibility between client, internal, and new business projects as needed
• Tracking industry and cultural trends and adapting process and directions accordingly
• Recommending improvements to the overall Brand Design experience

Who you are and what you bring

We seek 1–3 years of industry experience with a design firm, agency, in-house team, or equivalent. Please note this is a rough estimate of the years of experience needed to succeed in this role. Should this description sound like a great fit but you have more or fewer years of experience, we still encourage you to apply.

The experiences and strengths we seek:

• Experience and impeccable craft in brand identity design, visual language systems, and communication design
• Strategic thinking skills
• Presentation, communication, and critique skills
• Time and project management skills
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud design software and associated workflows
• Basic experience using creative AI tools like Midjourney and motion design tools like After Effects, or a willingness to learn them upon joining the team
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience preferred

Our recommendations for applying to this role

• Have a portfolio ready with multiple pieces that demonstrate excellence in the above competencies. It needs to show your design process and how you adapted it for various clients, in various project lengths, on teams of various sizes, et
• Write a cover letter explaining your qualifications for the role and how you see it shaping the next stage(s) of your career.
• Be aware the complete process, from applying to job offer, can take up to 6 weeks. If you’re seen as a strong candidate, there will be multiple interview rounds that highlight different parts of your candidacy including project walkthroughs, skills and experiences, and culture fitness.