Art Director
lovepop
Da Nang, Hải Châu, Da Nang, Vietnam
As Art Director, your mission is to (1) provide art direction across all product lines, (2) creative management of Lovepop's license portfolio, shepherding products through licensor approval workflows while protecting Lovepop's creative integrity, and (3) manage external creative resources — freelance illustrators, agencies, and specialty vendors — to extend the team's capacity, bring in diverse art styles, and deliver on time and on budget. You will partner closely with the VP of Design, Merchandising, and Operations to translate creative vision into production ready, scalable products.
Accountabilities
- Provide Art Direction: Establish and articulate clear creative vision for each product line and collection. Provide constructive, decisive feedback to designers and illustrators to elevate work, reduce revision cycles, and ensure every product reflects Lovepop's "art x engineering" identity.
- Define Visual Language & Design Systems: Develop and maintain product-line design systems that ensure consistency across occasions, recipients, sentiments, and licensed properties — while preserving the distinctiveness of each line.
- Champion the Magic Standard: Act as the dedicated guardian of "magic in a card" across every product. Ensure illustration, color, typography, paper engineering, and sentiment work together to create emotional resonance.
- Translate Customer Insight into Design: Partner with Merchandising and analytics to interpret sales, sentiment, and assortment data. Use insights to inform creative direction for upcoming collections, occasions, and sentiment expansions.
- Lead Licensor Approval Workflows: Own creative direction for every licensed product development through: concept submission, prototype review, production sample sign-off — across multiple concurrent licensors with different style guides and submission cadences.
- Source & Onboard Talent: Continuously discover illustrators, designers, and specialty studios whose styles complement Lovepop's product range. Maintain a tiered roster (go-to partners, specialists, emerging talent) and onboard new vendors to Lovepop's brand standards, file specs, and workflow.
- Brief & Direct External Creative: Write tight, decisive creative briefs that set vision, references, technical specs, deliverables, timelines, and revision boundaries.
- Build & Coach the Team: Recruit, develop, and retain A+ designers and illustrators. Provide clear strategic direction, mentorship, and accountability.
- Plan Capacity & Workload: Forecast team capacity against the product roadmap. Identify capacity gaps, and balance internal vs. external resourcing decisions for efficiency and cost.
- Partner with Engineering & Operations: Collaborate with 3D Engineering and Operations on design feasibility, cost engineering, and production scalability.
- Partner with Merchandising: Align art direction with assortment strategy, sentiment design plans, and occasion calendars.
- Manage the Illustrations Asset Library: Ensure illustration assets, brand guidelines, licensor style guides are maintained, accessible and scalable.
Art Direction & Creative Excellence
Set and uphold the visual bar across Lovepop's product portfolio.
License Portfolio Management
Creatively steward Lovepop's licensed-IP portfolio as a strategic and creative asset.
External Resource Management
Build, maintain, and deploy a roster of external creative talent to extend Lovepop's capacity and creative range.
Team Leadership & Development
Lead and develop a highly creative and high-performing illustration team.
Operate as the design org's creative partner to the rest of the business.
Qualifications
Experience: Minimum 5–10+ years in design with progression of titles into senior creative leadership, including a current or recent role at the Art Director / Senior Manager level. Demonstrated experience in product design for physical consumer goods (greeting cards, paper goods, gift, stationery, toy, collectible, or licensed consumer products).
Licensed IP Experience: Hands-on experience managing licensed IP end-to-end (concept → licensor approval → production), with multiple concurrent licensors strongly preferred. Familiarity with major licensor approval workflows (Disney, Sanrio, Universal, music estates, sports leagues, etc.) is a significant advantage.
External Resource Management: Proven experience sourcing, briefing, and managing external creative resources (freelance illustrators, agencies, specialty studios), with ownership of vendor budgets and performance.
Art Direction & Judgment: Strong creative eye with mastery of visual storytelling, illustration direction, color, composition, typography, and character design. Ability to provide clear, constructive feedback that elevates a team's output.
Design System Thinking: Ability to define, document, and uphold a consistent visual language across a multi-product portfolio, balancing collection distinctiveness with brand coherence.
Tools: Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Figma). Comfort with 3D rendering tools is a plus.
Leadership & Team Building: Proven team leadership managing 5+ direct reports. Track record of recruiting, developing, and retaining design talent.
Strategic Thinking: Strategic thinker who translates vision into actionable plans, output metrics, and measurable outcomes. Data-informed mindset — uses sales, sentiment, and customer insights to sharpen creative decisions.
Portfolio: A portfolio demonstrating creative leadership across product design — ideally including licensed-IP work, illustrated product, packaging, and evidence of team leadership — is required for consideration.
Cultural Fit: Genuine passion for Lovepop's mission to create magical moments and natural alignment with our values: Engineering, Hunger, Magic, Connection.
Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Illustration, Fine Arts, Visual Communication, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
