Art Director

Virginia Living; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

2 weeks paid vacation

8 paid holidays

Job summary

Virginia Living is seeking a seasoned art director to lead design across our print magazine and digital platforms. You will shape visual identity for luxury features and departments—from food and culture to homes and destinations—and oversee photography direction, typography, and branding.

This hands-on role collaborates with the publisher, editors, and creative team, guiding layouts through production and ensuring consistency across channels.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of high-level design experience in magazines or agencies.
• Strong ability to explain design rationale.
• Experience hiring photographers, illustrators, and stylists.
• Bachelor's or Master's in Graphic Design or related field.
• Excellent typography, photography, and illustration understanding.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Proficient in Macintosh and MS Office." Virginia familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Lead design across print and digital, including photography direction.
• Design layouts and advance through production with Publishing and Editorial.
• Assign photographers, illustrators, and stylists; negotiate fees.
• Manage art budget and procurement; build vendor relationships.
• Collaborate withPublisher and Editorial teams; review budgets and ideas.
• Oversee preflight tasks and press checks; ensure brand consistency.

Skills

Art direction

Typography

Photography

Branding

Project management

Adobe Creative Suite

Education

B.A. or Masters in Graphic Design

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

InDesign

Photoshop

Illustrator

Job description

Shape the visual identity of Virginia's premier lifestyle magazine! We're looking for a creative force to lead design across our print magazine and digital platforms.

You'll drive the vision for our award-winning features and departments on food, culture, people, destinations, homes, gardens, and more. This is a hands-on role perfect for an experienced art director who thrives on variety-from conceptual photography and illustration direction to typography to marketing materials.

The ideal candidate brings:

• Proven art direction experience in luxury lifestyle media.
• Strong photography and typography skills.
• Outstanding collaboration abilities to work directly with our publisher, editors, and creative team.
• An eye for translating our brand across print, digital, and marketing materials.
• Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly InDesign and Photoshop.

This is a chance to make your mark on Virginia's most widely read magazine. You'll have creative ownership while working with a close-knit team passionate about showcasing Virginia’s finest.

Standard Operating Procedure

• Contribute and discuss feasibility of story ideas. Vet story ideas for relevance and past coverage in Virginia Living.
• Consider which photographer, illustrator, and/or stylist (artist) is the best match for the story.
• Collaborate with Virginia Living Team as required.
• Meet with Publisher and Editorial team regularly to review budget, story ideas, and art ideas for stories.
• Assign photographers, illustrators, and stylists, and negotiate fee for hire.
• Complete and send Purchase Orders, and follow up to ensure that we have fully executed agreements.
• Art Direct most photo shoots for maximum quality.
• Build strong relationships with editorial subjects and community.
• Design layouts, and advance them through production cycle with Publishing and Editorial departments.
• Follow workflow organization on company server.
• Prepare and organize Purchase Orders for accounting office to pay.
• Oversee advertisements to be placed in other marketing vehicles.

Administrative

• Generate purchase orders based on art budget; send to artists. Ensure that the payment amounts on the forms correspond to the payment amounts on the budget. Resolve any discrepancies with the Accountant. Send W9 and direct deposit forms to artists the first time they work for Cape Fear Publishing.
• Update comp list for each issue.

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of high-level design experience at a magazine, ad agency or other communications organization.
• Superior design and art direction skills, coupled with the ability to explain rationale.
• Experience hiring photographers, illustrators and stylists, locating archival material, and scouting locations for photo shoots.
• B. A. or Masters in Graphic Design or similar degree.
• Very strong understanding of typography, photography, and illustration.
• Strong project management experience and organizational skills.
• Expert in Adobe Creative Suite: particularly InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
• Skilled in Macintosh environment, MS Office products.
• Strong familiarity with the state of Virginia.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Branding and marketing experience.
• Ability to tailor some magazine print layouts to the website.
• Have knowledge of offset printing and be capable of executing preflight tasks and press checks.
• Be able to manage an art budget for the magazine.
• Be able to brainstorm ideas.
• Be personable and possess a collegial working style.

Reports to the Publisher, John-Lawrence Smith

Hours

8:30 to 5:30, M-F and more as needed.

Pay

Competitive

Vacation

• 2 weeks paid vacation per year
• 8 paid holidays per year

Location: Richmond, full-time on site