The Role
Reporting to: Head of Creative
This is more than just a design role; it’s an opportunity for an Art Directing Designer who thrives on shaping ideas and bringing them to life with genuine impact. As a Mid-Weight Designer / Art Director, you will play a pivotal role in translating client challenges into high-quality, transformative creative solutions that don't just meet, but genuinely exceed the brief.
You'll be the visual architect, crafting innovative and impactful designs that resonate deeply with target audiences while faithfully preserving and enhancing each brand's essence. Your work will involve fulfilling advertising, design and brand briefs across digital, print, social, and video. Expect to be at the heart of shaping campaigns, refining brand identities, and contributing significant visual power to new business pitches.
This position is about crafting visual narratives that ignite engagement, convey powerful messages, and deliver measurable outcomes. You'll be collaborative but able to fly solo on briefs, and will have opportunities to interact directly with clients in workshops and presenting your work. Your contribution will be instrumental in upholding our reputation for delivering intelligent, impactful design solutions and fostering robust client relationships. Our aim for this role is for you to be a centre of creative energy and precision, setting a high bar for design excellence within the agency, inspiring your peers, and consistently challenging conventional thinking.
About Ideas + Outcomes
We are the insight-driven ideas company, purpose-built to help businesses shape their future. At Ideas + Outcomes, our expert teams in Strategy, Creative + Film, UX, and Development work seamlessly across our four UK offices. We’re proud to partner with leading brands including Superdrug, Just Eat, Save The Children, Futura Foods, Oak Tree Mobility, and Eakin Healthcare. Our work spans a dynamic range, from brand development and video concepts to art direction, point-of-sale campaigns, and comprehensive brand asset design.
Our agency exists to solve our clients’ toughest problems. We do this through our distinctive Understand. Simplify. Wow. methodology, which places consumer insight firmly at the heart of every project.
Our Vision: To become the UK’s Most Recommended Agency and to be recognised as a Great Place to Work. We’re already a Drum Recommended Agency – our clients consistently rate us 9/10 – and we're genuinely excited about what’s next.
Location
Central London. This is a hybrid role, requiring 3 days per week in our Barbican office. You'll work directly alongside colleagues from our creative, project management, and client service teams, fostering a truly collaborative environment.
Key Responsibilities
As a Mid-Weight Designer / Art Director, you will:
Design & Conceptualisation: Generate engaging design concepts and deliver impactful campaign assets that clearly communicate brand messages and align with identity. Produce outputs across social, digital, print, pitch/presentation decks, and events.
Brand Advocacy: Act as a dedicated brand champion for clients, deeply understanding their core principles and applying them effectively across all design work.
Collaboration: Work in close partnership with the creative team, including internal and group colleagues, the Head of Creative, and Strategy Director, ensuring a unified and powerful visual narrative across all projects.
Pitch & Proposal Support: Provide robust visual support for new business pitches and proposals through the creation of compelling mock-ups, scamps, and beautifully presented designs.
Direction: On occasion, provide coordination and guidance to junior designers and/or freelance talent.
Client Relations: Confidently present design concepts to clients, articulating the rationale behind your creative choices and responding to feedback constructively to refine solutions.
Stay Updated: Continuously track the latest design trends, emerging technologies, and innovative techniques to ensure our design solutions remain competitive, fresh, and forward-thinking.
Artwork Finalisation: Prepare and deliver designs for print or digital publication, meticulously ensuring they meet all required standards and specifications for flawless execution.
Benefits
Salary: £35,000 - £42,500.
Pension: Penfold.
Life Insurance.
Hybrid Working Policy: 3 days in our office (or full-time if preferred), with flexible hours between 08:00 - 18:00.
9-Day Working Fortnight Option: Compress your hours over 9 days to enjoy every other Friday off – a true work-life perk!
Annual Leave: 25 days (FTE), plus bank holidays, increasing with service.
Profit Share: Based on company performance, so everyone benefits from our collective success.
Recognition: Employee of the Quarter and Year Awards, including an extra half-day holiday for quarterly winners.
The Type of Person for the Role
We’re looking for an Art Directing Designer with a genuine spark for ideas and a drive to create genuinely transformative work.
Essential Skills & Attributes:
Qualifications: A bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Visual Arts, or a closely related field.
Experience: At least 4 years of professional design experience within a dynamic creative or agency environment. You’ll have a strong track record of independently owning projects, alongside demonstrated success collaborating effectively within a team, particularly with copywriters, to shape high-impact campaigns.
Portfolio: A compelling and diverse portfolio showcasing your range, including static and animated social content, brochures, and/or experiential projects. Your work should clearly demonstrate your conceptual strength and your ability to carry ideas through to a polished finish.
Technical Proficiency: Mastery of the latest Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign) and other relevant design software. A solid understanding of print and digital media specifications, alongside asset and artwork production requirements.
AI Integration: Practical experience with AI platforms for asset production and as a co-pilot tool to enhance and accelerate the creative process.
Ideation & Visualisation: Strong capabilities in sketching, storyboarding, and conceptually visualising ideas from initial thought to clear communication.
The Creative Impact of Language: A genuine passion for, and deep understanding of, typography – its uses, its power, and its linguistic impact. Basic copywriting skills are a plus, particularly for short headlines, and the ability to clearly rationalise your own creative ideas.
Personality: You are approachable, personable, and capable of inspiring confidence in those around you. You can work autonomously while thriving in close collaboration with senior creatives and other team members. You’re adaptable and a natural problem-solver.
Ambition: A clear drive to consistently produce creative work that is original, unexpected, and always relevant.
Future-Focused: Committed to refining your craft through continuous development and seeking out relevant training opportunities.
Energy: You thrive in the fast-paced, deadline-rich, multi-project environment of a creative agency, demonstrating strong time management skills and personal accountability.
Industry Knowledge: Up-to-date familiarity with the intricacies of both print and digital media design, current design trends, and social media trends.
Skills & Attributes That Will Help You Stand Out Further
Proficiency in additional design software such as Canva, Figma, and After Effects (including animation).
UX/UI Design knowledge and expertise.
Creative interests outside of work, with extra-curricular projects that demonstrate a core passion for creativity beyond the professional brief.
Photographic / film art direction experience.
Experience with events and experiential projects.
Experience designing for PowerPoint / MS Office Templates.