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Design Lead

London

Summary

We are looking for a highly creative and versatile Lead Designer to join the team and work across a variety of exciting projects.

You will head up our new Design Team and lead in the creation of  high-quality work, building out ideas through a range of mediums across the design spectrum. You will be leading the design thinking on projects, working both hands-on and alongside production teams, freelancers and studios to shape projects as they transition from concept through to production. 

An integral part of the Design Team, you’ll apply your skills and expertise to everything from establishing visual languages and identities to art direction and mentoring and inspiring the team.

Main Responsibilities

  • Conceptualising and developing the visual language of a project from design to production
  • Lead and manage the design team, mentoring and setting design standards across the studio
  • Leading in the creation of unique graphic styles across multiple projects in a range of disciplines; from UI design to creating motion graphic guidelines
  • Collaborating with the Creative Director and Project Team to create a design language that answers the brief
  • Briefing and overseeing freelancers and studios during projects
  • Creating mockups and storyboards to express and build out ideas and concepts
  • Bringing strong general knowledge of different design disciplines and applying this to projects 

About you 

  • Able to think conceptually and translate ideas into production
  • Adaptable and interested in different styles and techniques of design
  • Strong knowledge of different design techniques and comfortable working across different disciplines
  • Able to showcase a wide range of skills from hands-on design to conceptual thinking
  • A strong understanding of design, illustration and knowledge of motion graphics (2d + 3d)
  • A natural leader who can mentor, inspire and guide more junior members of the team
  • Collaborative and able to work with a variety of teams across a range of disciplines
  • Able to take creative ownership and accept responsibility of a project
  • Able to interpret briefs and build a visual identity in keeping with message of the project
  • A skilled communicator both visually and verbally 

Skills & Experience 

  • 5+ years experience within a creative studio environment
  • Experience across a multitude of platforms spanning digital to print
  • Experience leading a team and collaborating with
  • Art direction across both 2D & 3D
  • UX/UI  experience
  • Experience within motion design (treatments, storyboarding, animatics)
  • An understanding of motion principles 

Salary Pay Range

£65,000 - £80,000 GBP

 

About Squint/Opera:

Squint/Opera is Journey’s immersive design studio, bridging the digital and physical worlds through groundbreaking storytelling and emerging technologies such as Unreal Engine and virtual twins.
 
We’re the innovators behind the Empire State Building Observatory’s digital reinvention, creating over 40 unique exhibits that transform 10,000 square feet into an interactive journey through history and architecture. At Battersea Power Station, we designed Lift 109, an immersive ascent experience that melds cutting-edge animations, interactive elements, and spatial soundscapes to breathe new life into London’s iconic landmark. For Qiddiya City, we pushed the boundaries of virtual production, crafting a revolutionary campaign that ignited global excitement for Saudi Arabia’s visionary sports and entertainment mega-development.
 
We’re at the forefront of a new era in experiential multidimensional design (MDX) and an integral part of Journey’s Experience Stack. Inspired by the concept of a tech stack, our Experience Stack draws on decades of cumulative expertise from our physical, lighting, live & immersive, and emerging technology studios to produce magical, meaningful, original work. This integration propels our partners into new realms of growth and delivers multidimensional experiences that are not just consumed but that are lived and felt through every dimension of human interaction.

 

About Journey:

Journey is a global design and innovation studio pioneering multidimensional experiences (MDX) that transform how people perceive, engage, and interact with the world. With studios in New York, London, Miami, and Dubai, we blend strategy, design, technology, and narrative to create sensory-rich journeys that ignite emotion and deepen connections between people, brands, and culture. 
 
Journey was formed in 2022 by visionary leaders who refuse to accept limits. United through the acquisitions of award-winning studios ICRAVESquint/Opera59, and VMI Studio, together, we form something new: a multidimensional design practice with unparalleled expertise across the physical, immersive, and digital realms. 
 
But we're so much more than a combination of acquisitions; we're a revolutionary framework of layered design capabilities akin to the layers of a technology stack for software companies. Like the best technology stacks, our framework continuously evolves to embrace new capabilities and creative possibilities with the future of the human experience at the forefront. This game-changing framework, the Journey Experience Stack, allows us to design for every touchpoint and create uncommonly cohesive brand universes, drawing on our collective expertise in interior design, lighting design, media design, interactive design, and content creation to deliver industry-first solutions for entertainment, healthcare, retail, hospitality, real estate, and cultural institutions. 
 
No other full-service studio practices multidimensional design or vertically integrates its experience capabilities with this level of sophistication. Whether we’re reimagining the hospital-patient relationship, creating the world’s most immersive entertainment venuerevolutionizing live theater, or crafting virtual twins that accelerate ideas’ passage from vision to reality, Journey’s work is pioneering the shift of how people perceive, engage, and interact with the world. 

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