Design Director



Job Summary
The Design Director provides design leadership at Klutz and plays a key role in the development of Klutz’s creative strategy and vision. Reporting to the Publisher, the Design Director leads and mentors the Klutz design team to creative solutions, provides inspiring art direction to our in-house and freelance design resources, and ensures design solutions support and contribute to the evolution of our products and brand. The person in this position will produce creative design themselves as well as manage and direct work done by others. The Design Director will also review all stages of the current design process and methodology and implement improvements to maximize productivity and efficiency while fostering positive work groups.

Job Responsibilities

  • Actively participate in the strategic development of the Klutz brand and its product universe.
  • Lead the design team in cultivating the Klutz brand and evolving it into a successful brand for
    the 21st century.
  • Consistently deliver compelling, on target creative solutions to drive sales and enhance the
    product experience for our customers while ensuring the product is on time and on budget.
  • Act as creative direction point-of-contact at major decision points with Publisher, Editorial,
    Art, Marketing, and Sales.
  • Recruit design talent and provide hands-on direction to staff through concept, design, and
    production stages; assign, review and be accountable for performance of all creative work.
  • Responsible for hands-on design of assigned titles each season.
  • Select, commission, and art direct appropriate photography and illustration talent.
  • Encourage collaborative spirit and problem-solving within the design team and among Klutz
    and Scholastic departments.
  • Implement a creative hands-on approach to lead and inspire idea generation.
  • Develop best practices and policies for the Klutz design development processes.

Job Requirements
  • Bachelor's degree (or higher) in graphic design, visual communication, or similar program.
  • A minimum of 10 years of art direction, design, and branding experience.
  • A minimum of 5 years management experience of an in-house creative team and a proven track
    record of realizing creative success through financial results while leading, inspiring, and
    influencing others throughout the creative process.
  • Experience working in the Publishing industry, ideally with books or other children's products.
  • Strong understanding of informational design and a proven ability to turn detailed how-to
    information into appealing interactive experiences for kids.
  • Strong creative vision and methodology with a demonstrated ability to understand design needs
    and translate those into compelling creative work.
  • A customer-oriented approach and a strong reputation for consistently bringing challenging projects
    to completion on time and on budget.
  • Ability to evaluate work of self and others in a way that is productive and inspiring.
  • Accomplished technical design skills with expert-level proficiency with current Adobe CS software,
    specifically Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
  • Flexibility to work with many styles of typography, illustration and photography.
  • Substantive experience in three dimensional and package design; skilled in problem solving in both
    two and three dimensions.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including presentation skills and the ability to sell
    design concepts and ideas to a variety of stakeholders.
  • A practical, professional, results-oriented approach to work combined with an outlook that frames
    problems as challenges.
  • Composure and a sense of humor while juggling a variety of projects and responsibilities on tight
    budgets and schedules.


To Apply
Please apply through the Careers section of the Scholastic, Inc. website.
Visit: http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/jobsearch.asp,
and search on Requisition Number NY6011 to submit your information for consideration.

This position is based in Palo Alto, California.