Art Director

Art Director

Yellow Flag Productions

Southfield, Michigan

Full-Time | In-Office

Salary: $70,000–$85,000 based on experience

Yellow Flag Productions is seeking a driven, highly experienced Art Director to lead and take ownership of the creative function across our organization.

This role requires more than strong creative direction. We are looking for an expert-level graphic designer with significant print production experience and the ability to develop creative across digital, video, motion graphics, social media, broadcast, environmental, and experiential platforms.

The Art Director must be able to lead creatively while remaining hands-on when needed.

This is not a position for someone who waits for assignments. The successful candidate will learn our organization, understand the needs of each department, identify opportunities, establish creative direction, and drive projects from concept through final production.

About Yellow Flag Productions

Yellow Flag Productions is a multiple award-winning creative agency and production company, including Emmy Award-winning work. We produce integrated campaigns, branding, print, video, broadcast content, digital media, experiential activations, environmental graphics, and commercial creative.

Yellow Flag Productions currently serves as the Agency of Record for Lawrence Technological University and also works across higher education, sports, entertainment, corporate, live events, and digital media.

Leadership & Ownership

The Art Director will serve as a creative leader across Yellow Flag Productions and will be expected to develop a strong understanding of every major department and business unit.

Responsibilities include:

• Build strong working relationships across all departments.
• Understand each department's goals, priorities, audiences, and creative needs.
• Take ownership of projects from concept through completion.
• Establish creative direction rather than waiting for direction.
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve creative.
• Work closely with leadership and project management to establish priorities.
• Provide creative direction and feedback to designers, freelancers, photographers, videographers, animators, and production partners.
• Maintain a consistently high creative standard across the organization.
• Develop systems, templates, brand standards, and processes that improve efficiency and consistency.

We want someone who naturally asks:

“What needs to happen next?”

rather than:

“What do you want me to work on?”

Expert-Level Graphic Design

This position requires expert-level graphic design ability.

The Art Director must demonstrate exceptional skills in:

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Photoshop
• Typography
• Layout and composition
• Branding and visual identity
• Advertising
• Publication design
• Campaign development
• Environmental graphics
• Digital and social creative

The ideal candidate must be able to develop original concepts and personally execute sophisticated creative work at a professional agency level.

Print Production Experience

Professional print production experience is required.

The Art Director must understand the complete production process from initial design through final printed product.

Experience should include:

• Brochures and publications
• Viewbooks
• Direct mail
• Posters and collateral
• Business cards and stationery
• Signage
• Banners
• Large-format graphics
• Wall and window graphics
• Environmental graphics
• Event materials

Candidates should understand:

• Prepress and production-ready file preparation
• Bleeds, trims, folds, safety areas, and dielines
• CMYK, RGB, Pantone, and spot colors
• Image resolution
• Paper stocks and substrates
• Coatings and specialty finishes
• Large-format printing
• Printer specifications
• Proofing and quality control
• Working directly with printers, fabricators, installers, and vendors

The Art Director is responsible for ensuring work is both visually strong and technically correct for final production.

Multimedia Design

The Art Director must understand how creative extends beyond static graphic design.

Experience should include creative development for:

• Motion graphics
• Animation
• Video
• Broadcast graphics
• Social media
• Digital advertising
• Websites
• Digital signage and LED displays
• Presentations
• Event screens
• Sports and entertainment content
• Experiential installations

Experience with Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro is strongly preferred.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead creative direction across Yellow Flag Productions.
• Develop integrated campaign concepts.
• Personally execute high-level graphic design.
• Develop brand identities and visual systems.
• Oversee professional print production.
• Create print, digital, social, presentation, environmental, and experiential creative.
• Develop concepts for motion graphics, animation, video, and broadcast.
• Collaborate with web, social, video production, photography, project management, sales, account services, and leadership.
• Present creative concepts and explain creative decisions.
• Review and improve the work of other creatives.
• Manage multiple projects and priorities.
• Maintain brand consistency.
• Identify opportunities to improve creative quality and processes.
• Drive projects through final completion.

Required Qualifications

• 5 years of professional agency, in-house, or production experience.
• Art Director, Senior Designer, or comparable experience.
• Expert-level graphic design skills.
• Expert proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign.
• Advanced Adobe Photoshop skills.
• Strong professional portfolio.
• Professional print production and prepress experience.
• Experience with large-format and environmental graphics.
• Experience developing integrated campaigns.
• Multimedia, motion graphics, animation, or video experience.
• Strong understanding of typography, layout, branding, and visual storytelling.
• Ability to take projects from concept through production.
• Ability to lead while remaining hands-on.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently and make decisions.
• Strong sense of urgency, accountability, and ownership.

Preferred Experience

• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Broadcast or sports graphics
• Higher education marketing
• Photography or cinematography
• 3D design or animation
• Figma or UI/UX
• Experiential and environmental design

What We're Looking For

We are looking for someone who wants to own the creative role, not simply complete assignments.

The right candidate is an exceptional designer who understands production, thinks strategically, communicates well, and takes initiative.

They should want to understand how every department within Yellow Flag Productions operates and determine how creative can help those teams succeed.

They must be comfortable leading, making recommendations, solving problems, and moving projects forward without constant direction.

Yellow Flag Productions moves quickly. Priorities change and new opportunities emerge frequently.

We need an Art Director who thrives in that environment and brings creative leadership, expert design capability, print production knowledge, multimedia experience, initiative, urgency, and accountability.

To Apply

Please submit:

• Resume
• Portfolio
• Relevant work samples

Portfolios should demonstrate expert graphic design, branding, print production, campaign development, and multimedia work.

We are especially interested in projects where you personally developed the concept, led the creative direction, executed the work, and drove the project through final production.