Freelance Stationery Designer

Founded in May 2015, Papier is a London based start-up, which has raised £60m+ million since launch. Papier’s collection of stationery products, from notebooks & diaries to notecards and wedding invitations, is designed to feed curiosity and contemplation, to invite people to uncover the possibility of a blank page. The business is growing and internationalising rapidly, particularly experiencing growth in the US across both D2C and wholesale channels.

At Papier, the Stationery Designer will design inspirational stationery that fulfils the overall creative vision; taking responsibility for researching, conceptualising, designing and artworking stationery designs.

You will be responsible for creating trend-setting and constantly evolving designs that push the brand forward. You demonstrate a strong design skill in illustration and typography and, working closely with the senior design team, you will make an essential contribution towards Papier’s inhouse design handwriting that transforms Papier into a global stationery lifestyle brand.

Requirements

Design Ideation

• Create trend-setting, aspirational designs through the excellent execution of multiple simultaneous design projects.
• Present design ideas and outcomes cross-functionally with confidence and clarity, conveying complex design thinking in a way that leads to increased engagement and generates excitement.
• Support creative growth for yourself and within the design team at Papier by maintaining excellent awareness of lifestyle and design trends and proactively making time for creative experimentation and research. 
• Conduct thorough, diverse and curated research for design projects that lead to unique, forward-thinking stationery designs.
• Understand the brand aesthetic and interpret the brief through creating strong moodboards and resulting designs that compliment, adhere to and support the strategy. 

Design Delivery

• Utilise strong skills in illustration, graphic design and print composition; translating these into trend-setting  product design ideas.
• Actively manage your own schedule consisting of multiple simultaneous projects to ensure that all key deadlines are met. Proactively plan and prepare for a project's next steps, coaching and supporting any direct reports to do the same.
• Keep all stakeholders informed about a project’s progress, preparing any necessary design information to be shared with them at key stages. 
• Have a great understanding of business and design sales performance and utilise this to deliver commercial yet inspiring designs that meet or exceed project goals.
• Demonstrate flexibility by proactively supporting, delivering and adjust to moving targets in line with the business needs. Respond with your own initiative and maintain a positive attitude when faced with design-related challenges.

Quality

• Showcase your own creativity through consistently utilising a strong design skill to create high-calibre designs that push the brand forward. 
• Support with setting and maintaining standards for quality, including correct uploading, file naming, artwork set up and exporting.
• Have a good understanding of the printing industry and processes, proactively develop your own understanding and knowledge of this area to gain awareness of paper possibilities and restrictions,
• Support improvement initiatives by generating ideas and plans for how to improve the outcome of projects, even following success. Question how tasks could be done better and act upon opportunities to improve.