Graphic & Production Design Manager

Position Summary

The Royal Caribbean Creative Development & Advanced Concept Design Studio (or Creative Studio ) has a balanced mission of enhancing active near-term product efforts, and envisioning future capabilities and offerings of the company.

We apply creative effort and insight to enhance and amplify existing products, and develop new product, experience, and service concepts and prototypes that improve guest and crew experience across all human interface touch points.

We leverage both established and emerging technologies, partner with technology vendors and service providers, and invent new technology and concepts, blending physical and digital to produce shareable design assets and tangible test experiences.

We prove out concepts for desirability, feasibility, and viability, and move projects that satisfy these requirements to homes within relevant RCG businesses.

The Creative Studio is seeking a Graphic and Production Design Manager to facilitate the delivery of this work.

Reporting to the Director, Creative Development + Advanced Concept Design, the Graphic and Production Design Manager will function as a Graphic Design subject matter expert for the Creative Studio, leading Graphic Design-centric projects, providing Production Design support, and contributing broadly to the other Creative Studio cross-category projects which exceed the 2-dimensional.

They will participate in the front-end creative process, assisting with initial research, project creative vision, experience design exploration, but heavy emphasis will be placed on prototype fabrication and construction.

The Graphic and Production Design Manager will be a crucial part of the Creative Studio’s design and creative efforts, leading in Graphic Design excellence, collaborating in conceptualizing and designing big ideas, and assisting in bringing those ideas to life across category, scale, and tangibility.

We are seeking a hybrid designer : one who brings a depth of expertise in Graphic Design, but who also brings a viewpoint and insights beyond the 2-dimenstional, who can also work across product categories, a range of scale (small artifacts to large walkthrough spaces), and flex across visual and physical in service of the ultimate guest and crew experience.

We need someone who can work on an entertainment concept one day, a food and beverage project the next, and logistics process improvement the day after that, whether a visual asset, a physical object, a digital product, or a blend of all;

a designer who grasps the concrete process of designing visual, physical, and digital artifacts, and also understands the abstract process of crafting narratives and creating experiences.

Creative Studio projects can encompass anything in the course of guests living and crew working on a cruise ship or at a private destination, from the visible amenities to the hidden necessities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities :

• Functional Activities Collaborate with Creative Studio leadership and team members, and Product Development resources to deliver integrated project solutions.
• Graphic Design Serve as studio subject matter expert on graphic and production design; lead project efforts relating specifically to graphic design challenges : Logo design and development Branding and Identity Systems Composition and Layout (e.
• g. menus, signage, wayfinding) Typography selection and modification As able and needed, assist with Packaging, Interaction, UI / X, and Motion needs Package assets into compelling presentations;

present design outcomes to stakeholders; take input from stakeholders while also informing and guiding decisions with relevant design considerations to achieve highest quality results within constraints.

Generate directional concepts to leverage the larger studio team’s efforts against as well as directly producing final design assets Create new design standards, templates and materials, and ensure continuity of design and assets shared across the team, department, and organization.

• Production Design Support production design needs for broader Product Development department : Visual asset creation and / or editing (manipulation, color correcting / retouching, photobashing) Presentation deck layout support (layout, template creation, visual asset support)
• Advanced Concepts Contribute to Creative Studio Advanced Concept projects from a broad creative standpoint, including research, ideation, concepting, and development : Participate in strategic ideation process to identify guest and crew needs / problems / opportunities and determine project vision and direction.
• Drive primary and secondary research, both guest / crew-focused and topical focus. Produce relevant Graphic Design assets for developing comprehensive experience concepts;

contribute broadly to design considerations outside of Graphic Design. Contribute to other cross-category aspects of design challenges and opportunities.

Provide design input on initial ideas and prototype designs for fabrication. Contribute as able to the fabrication of a range of physical prototypes through analog and digital means : early rough models to show-ready demos;

cardboard mockups to 3D models; small-scale handheld objects to large-scale walkthrough spaces.

Qualifications, Knowledge & Skills :

• Bachelor’s degree in Design (Graphic Design preferred); Master’s Degree a plus.
• Minimum 10+ years' experience as a Graphic Designer with 2-5 years of experience in creative management, preferred.
• Exceptional Graphic Design skillset :
• Logo design and development
• Branding and Identity Systems
• Composition and Layout (menus, signage, wayfinding)
• Typography selection and modification
• Packaging, Interaction, UI / X, and / or Motion a plus
• Broad design perspective and interest :
• T-Shaped Person : Deep expertise in function coupled with diverse knowledge, experience, interests, and awareness across relevant areas;

enthusiasm for working within and across functions; Expertise in graphic design but having a viewpoint and interests exceeding the 2-dimensional aspects of design.

• Excellent creative and conceptual thinking skills; interest in tackling any design challenge presented, regardless of category, nature, or scale.
• Strong visual communication skills and biased to showing not telling.
• Biased to getting hands-on with new design challenges, inclined towards making, manifesting, testing, iterating.
• Basic understanding of human factors and rapid prototyping technology (CNC, laser, material printing technology, etc.) a plus.
• Excellent verbal communication skills (presentation, explanation, persuasion).
• Demonstrable variety in design capabilities : Ability to work across product categories, at varied scales (small artifact to large environment), and with different degrees of tangibility (concrete to abstract).
• Strong sense of empathy for user point of view, curiosity about the range of appropriate solutions, and decisiveness about what makes the best solution.
• Strong grasp of experiential design, narrative structure, and storytelling, enabling the creation of an emotional connection between our brand and our guests through beautiful and thoughtfully crafted design experiences.
• Ability to distill complex design challenges into simple, clear design directions for collaborators and leadership alike, informing the creation of exceptional design solutions that are effective, compelling, and readily grasped.
• Ability to bundle both big ideas and micro details into a concise design package, presenting them to stakeholders, leadership, and executives with clarity and vision;
• can clearly explaining the design ethos and logic of any work, helping stakeholders to understand design constraints, options, and solutions;

biased to respectfully but firmly championing informed opinions on the work to influence stakeholder thought and decisions and achieve excellence.

• Exceptional time management, organizational, and collaboration skills, enabling management of multiple work streams and delivery against deadlines.
• Experience collaborating with and providing input, direction, and feedback to cross-functional teams and vendors
• Resilient to ambiguity, change, and chaos : The Creative Studio is responsible for envisioning and prototyping the future, so this multifaceted role will need to flex to the needs of any given project, function well within ambiguous circumstances, and turn on a dime.

Sometimes we will start with clear direction and objectives; sometimes we will start with a blank sheet of paper. Biased to action, attentive to detail, consummate craftsmanship.