This job listing expired on Jun 7, 2022
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Mojang Studios is best known as the creators of Minecraft, but we’re also on a mission – to build a better world through the power of play.

Why play? Well, play is at the heart of everything we do. It’s the blocky backbone of our games, the core of our development philosophy, and even the origin of our name. From the relentless experimentation of our endlessly inspiring community to the classrooms where Minecraft has become an essential teaching tool, play is the bedrock of our existence.

As a member of the Consumer Products Creative Team you are responsible for providing creative direction, art assets and style guides for the global consumer products program. You have a passion for product design and visual storytelling, a collaborative mindset and possess the ability to guide our partners and licensees across multiple categories and projects with many stakeholders.

Responsibilities 

Creative and concepting 

  • Leads and reviews application of creative for own assigned projects
  • As a Senior, some of the projects may be more complex, larger in scale, or more demanding
  • Create ideas and concepts related to new Categories, Partners, lines, and items
  • Understand, research, and add input regarding relevant trends
  • Create visual treatments, mood boards , and mock-ups related to a high-level vision for Partners and Categories
  • Be able to articulate rationales, feedback choices, and design choices, as related to the consistency within the Program/team and across the Studio as a whole
  • Ensure all creative assets created in-house or by partners retain the highest quality and effectively communicate brand messages across product categories.
  • Ensure consistency in the way that assets and artwork are being applied across Partners and Categories based on style guides, but also by direction from you, where relevant.
  • Provide initial concept direction to Partners
  • Provide visual mockups (where applicable)
  • Assist Creative Lead in setting top level trends, seasonal updates and assets that can be shared across team and sets the bar for consistency for the team
  • Ensure the Style guide material is regularly updated, shared and implemented accordingly
  • Be able to bounce concept ideas with peer designers and provide guidance / feedback on concepts
  • Give recommendations and aid in decision making regarding which new Categories, Partners, lines and items should be progressed, based on your industry knowledge, critical reasoning and business awareness.

Feedback and Approval 

  • Provide clear, written, visual and verbal feedback to Partners related to concepts for assigned projects
  • Provide clear, written, visual and verbal feedback to Partners related to artwork (both in development artwork and final artwork) for assigned projects
  • Provide clear, written, visual and verbal feedback to Partners related to physical samples (example items, materials, molds, print quality, packaging, etc) for assigned projects
  • Provide approval to Partners at each stage (concept, artwork, samples, final art) / Decide when a concept is approved
  • Ensure that consistency is applied across Partner, Category, and within the program / team (cross referencing other Designers and the wider Studio’s treatment of artwork / assets / IP)
  • Be responsible for the proper archiving of assets and samples related to your assignments, within the given process set for the team (including documents, files, Partner files and physical samples)

Processes 

  • Work within processes set up by Lead Producer and Creative Lead.
  • Help set and enforce relevant processes with the Lead Producer and Creative Lead.
  • Share work across team
  • Oversee and support all categories and partners on a high level
  • Work across category and with multiple Partners (and Partner types)
  • Use specific design knowledge to apply consistency in all design work produced, reviewed and for feedback supplied
  • Make decisions based on alignment with business strategy and team / program goals
  • Work on a variety of assignment types, from collections, fast refresh, continuous annual updates, activities related to Studio beats, and seasonal, to ad hoc/ one time assignments
  • Support internal facing assignments, as requested
  • Participate in knowledge sharing sessions within the team
  • Participate in creative sessions within the team
  • Support the Creative Lead and Lead Producer/ Producer in any ad hoc tasks and duties
  • Availability to travel internationally throughout the year (between 1-4 times per year)
  • Work closely with our current and future licensing partners on developing strong ideas and concepts for Minecraft.
  • Manage various tasks daily making sure that projects progress and meet deadlines.
  • Facilitate and attend workshops and brainstorms around updates, with the aim to effectively and authentically expand our creative output in our licensing program.
  • Work on big and small projects, from collaborations to daily contact with selected partners.

Qualifications 

  • Bachelor's degree in an art or design major such as fine art, visual communications, graphic design or equivalent (i.e. a hands-on, design focused degree).
  • 7+ years relevant work experience as a Designer or Art Director
  • Extensive knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite
  • Attention to detail
  • Ability to balance multiple projects and meeting deadlines in a fast paced environment
  • Ability to anticipate, prioritize, and organize work to meet objectives
  • Highly conceptual and creative thinker
  • Team player with strong communication skills in English (written & verbal)
  • Strong presentation skills and ability to rationalize design choices to different stakeholders
  • Self-motivated and ability to take initiative around upcoming marketing beats & releases
  • Strong understanding of market trends with an ability to easily translate and adapt to brand aesthetic
  • You have a good understanding of product development process and licensing.
  • You have a thorough understanding of storytelling through products
  • You have experience designing against tight deadlines as well as managing your time across various projects, big and small.

Mojang Studios

Mojang Studios is a Microsoft-owned game developer. The company was founded in Stockholm, Sweden and has offices around the world, including Stockholm, Redmond, Tokyo, London, and Shanghai. We’re always working on new and exciting ways to expand the Minecraft universe.

Our community is global and incredibly diverse. We keep this in mind when developing anything, as we want people to feel included in Minecraft. And in recruiting, our goal is to make Mojang Studios as diverse as our community.

We got started as a tiny indie developer, and part of our culture still reflects that heritage. But we’re also proud to belong to Xbox Game Studios, which creates unique opportunities to grow and develop.

To help us achieve amazing things, we have built an equally amazing studio space. Situated right on the water by Söder Mälarstrand, it’s filled to the brim with all the tools, toys and caffeine required to create world-class entertainment.

But in the end, it’s the people of Mojang Studios that make this place truly special. When you join, you’ll find yourself in the company of incredibly bright, warm, and creative individuals – all united and working toward a single goal. Come help us reach it!

Important note on resumes
Please make sure that all the information in your resume is accurate because we will conduct a thorough background check. Any discrepancies will lower your chances of getting to the next interview stage and we’d hate to miss out on an awesome candidate! Double check that any gap years are reflected in your history, and that your education and work experience are completely accurate. Good luck!