Senior Graphic Designer & Illustrator — Live Sports Visuals (Remote)

Unrivaled Basketball; United States; Remote; USD 67,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

Unrivaled is seeking a Senior Graphic Designer and Illustrator to define the league’s look across social platforms for the 2026-2027 season. This remote, 1099 engagement runs Dec 1, 2026 to Mar 30, 2027, with a focus on high-quality social graphics, original illustrations, and strong branding across campaigns.

The ideal candidate has 3–7+ years of professional design experience, a robust portfolio, and proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, plus

Qualifications

• 3-7+ years of professional design experience.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating exceptional graphic design and illustration skills.
• Experience creating sports, entertainment, fashion, music, gaming, or culturally relevant creative.
• Strong command of typography, composition, color, photography, and visual hierarchy.
• Ability to create original illustration—not simply manipulate photography or existing assets.
• Expertise in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
• Experience with motion design, After Effects, 3D, or animation is a significant plus.
• Familiarity with emerging AI-assisted creative tools is a plus, particularly when used to accelerate ideation and production rather than replace original creative thinking.
• Strong understanding of Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, and evolving social formats.
• Ability to work quickly in a live sports environment.
• Comfortable receiving creative direction while also bringing original ideas to the table.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to craft.

Responsibilities

• Design high-volume social graphics.
• Create game-day graphics, matchups, starting lineups, scores, statistics, standings, player milestones, breaking news, and schedules.
• Develop graphics around cultural moments and storylines.
• Work quickly during live events while maintaining high creative standards.
• Build adaptable templates to move quickly without brand repetition.
• Create original illustrations of players, teams, moments, and league stories.
• Develop poster-style artwork, editorial illustrations, player portraits, typography, and campaign artwork.
• Translate player personalities and basketball culture into distinctive visuals.
• Create artwork for merchandise, posters, arena environments and installations.
• Maintain an identifiable artistic point of view within the brand.
• Collaborate with Brand Partnerships for sponsor-integrated graphics.
• Translate strategic ideas into strong visual concepts with Marketing.
• Establish design systems and templates for scalable growth.
• Develop graphics for players and clubs; differentiate team visuals within brand.
• Create player-focused artwork for social sharing.
• Design graphics for arena video boards, LED displays, signage and fan experiences.
• Support road and special events; think beyond the phone to physical environments.

Skills

Graphic design

Illustration

Typography

Color theory

Layout

Branding

Social media design

Live graphics

Tools

Photoshop

Illustrator

InDesign

After Effects

3D

Job description

Unrivaled is seeking a Senior Graphic Designer and Illustrator to define the league’s look across social platforms for the 2026-2027 season. This remote, 1099 engagement runs Dec 1, 2026 to Mar 30, 2027, with a focus on high-quality social graphics, original illustrations, and strong branding across campaigns.

The ideal candidate has 3–7+ years of professional design experience, a robust portfolio, and proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, plus