Designer

Job Title:  Designer - Product

Department: Creative Team

Reports To: Art Director

Exempt or Non-exempt:                                                                       

Date: 1.12.26

Description created by: Peter Friedmann, Chief Brand Product Officer

Briefly describe the position responsibilities: The Designer- Puzzles & Games is responsible for creating strong performing puzzles and games. Product solutions must be compelling, visually engaging for puzzles, board games, and playing cards. This role blends illustration, graphic design, and analytical thinking to deliver designs that are both fun and commercially successful, appealing to a wide range of audiences and age groups. The designer must understand sales results, market insights so their solutions are based on input.

The designer collaborates closely with the licensing department and manufacturing teams to translate concepts, themes, and licensed properties into high-quality puzzle and game designs. Responsibilities include artwork creation, layout and typography, packaging design, and production-ready file preparation, ensuring designs meet brand standards, playability requirements, and print specifications. This role requires a strong sense of storytelling, an understanding of how visual design enhances engagement and user experience. The Designer will be required to work across multiple SKUs and formats efficiently.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. (Additional duties may be assigned.)   Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The Senior Product Designer creates artwork for product development based on concepts and ideas generated in response to product plans and marketing objectives.  Activities include but are not limited to:

• Work under direction of the Chief Brand Product Officer and the Art Director to create product specifically in response to collection needs and marketing plans.
• Work with a creative suite of AI digital tools (ie., Midjourney, Gemini, Nano Banana)
• Will be required to assist in the design of packaging when required.
• Independently develop concepts for the “puzzle pipeline”
• Actively participate in brainstorm sessions, researching the market and develop concepts for consideration.
• Develop new lines of their own design and produce art artwork for development
• Create artwork and specifications in concert with target pricing guidelines
• Develop style-board creation specific to marketing and product plan needs.
• Build understanding of puzzle market and sales results.

Competencies necessary for success in this job:

• Ability to visualize, conceptualize and imagine marketable product
• Exceptional brainstorming and creative conceptual abilities
• Ability to be highly creative and visionary in the artwork generation and product development process.
• Clear knowledge of AI digital tools (ie., Midjourney, Gemini, Nano Banana)
• Exceptional artistic ability and proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator and other creative software programs
• Ability to manipulate licensed artwork for adaptation to three dimensional product
• Ability to design to vendor capabilities, manufacturing limitations and development costs
• Ability to take initiative, work independently, propose ideas and bring them to life.
• Exceptional visual communication skills relative to artwork and product requests from multiple sources.
• Strong collaboration skills.
• Ability to communicate succinct and effective written directions and specifications for product development.

Qualifications for this position:  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required:

• College degree preferred in art, design or related field or equivalent. .
• Ability to work within a fast-paced product development process
• Must possess excellent organizational skills with ability to multi-task.
• Excellent and demonstrated proficiency in Photoshop /Illustrator and design related software programs required

Current Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A

Work Environment:

• Highly Entrepreneurial
• Dynamic
• Fast paced
• Firm deadlines
• Complex projects with time definite intermediate deadlines

Physical Demands:

• Some lifting and carrying of products and merchandising materials in master cartons and shipping cartons for merchandising projects and trade shows
• Moderate travel to trade shows and showrooms for promotion, research or merchandising support and display