Designer II, Color & Trend Footwear Design

Who We Are: At Brooks, we believe movement is the key to feeling more alive. That’s why we’re driven to create gear and experiences that take people to the place that makes them feel more alive — whether it’s a headspace, a feeling, or a finish line.   Everyone who works at Brooks is propelled by a company culture that sparks excitement, fuels collaboration, inspires creativity, and ignites innovation.   Our brand values help bond us together and drive our success:   ·       Runner First   We act in the best interest of the runner   ·       Word is Bond  We do what we say we’ll do   ·       Champion Heart   We give our all in everything we do     ·       There is no “I” in Run We stay generous with our humanity   ·       Keep Moving We find ways to move every day, because joy is kinetic!   We welcome everyone from every walk of life looking to inspire others through the power of movement — because we’re all moving towards something. Let’s run there.    Your Job: As a Designer II, Color & Trend Design, you will create the SEASONAL AESTHETIC DIRECTION for FOOTWEAR PRODUCT CREATION. You will produce color stories and palettes through global trend research and the integration of sports performance color standards that enhance and support brand direction and brand performance identity. As a Designer II, you will create DESIGN balance between the most progressive and the most acceptable design solutions within seasonal collections of Brooks Running footwear products.   Through your growing expertise and deep understanding of taste preferences and consumer attitudes of our runner types, you will deliver on our CRAFTED BEAUTY mission through compelling coloration to entice runners to choose Brooks season after season.   As a Designer II, Color & Trend Design, you will work in close collaboration with inline footwear designers on color-design compositions, and design and execute seasonal line coloration as a member of the Color & Trend Design team. Through the design and execution of color CADs, you will drive seasonal color direction, promoted footwear assortments, and inline collections, and work with cross-functional teams to merchandise color to ensure and enhance aesthetic appeal to target consumers. You will influence the implementation of emotional storytelling of trends, color, materials, and finishes as part of the inline design process.   In this role, you will work on select projects in collaboration with Color & Trend design leads. You will contribute to defining color-design strategy and delivering upon the execution of color processes that align with sustainability goals. You will uphold clear design communication and processes with Footwear Inline Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Material Development, and 3D Visualization Design Teams. With your extensive experience in color design, trend forecasting, and color strategy, you will play a fundamental role within the Footwear Design Team to ensure that Brooks product is most LOVED for runners worldwide. Your Responsibilities:

COLOR DESIGN

Research and surface consumer, design, color, material, and finish trends to influence and impact footwear product direction. Stay current in the athletic footwear market, lifestyle trends, industry trends, and category trends to help inform color and design directions. 

Own application and execution of primary and secondary footwear color palettes to designated styles and lines. Ensure all colorways support brand creative vision, uphold standards of design excellence, and meet organizational standards for quality and accuracy.

Responsible for all aspects of color selection and usage, logos and trims, treatments and finishes, and final aesthetics related to Crafted Beauty in collaboration with design and development.

 Answer critique with a curious mindset – propose alternative options after more design exploration.

Finalize product details and proactively follow through on the execution of color at all rounds.

Partner with 3D Visualization Designers to support colorway visualization and review.

Create, maintain, and share in the presentation of robust, impactful, informational presentations, concept debuts, and color tools to help drive communication, influence, and implementation.

Provide counsel, feedback, and mentorship to more junior designers to lend wisdom and know-how on design solutions, understanding of the brand, and the realities of product creation.

Apply intellectual curiosity, problem-solving skills, and an ever-deepening knowledge of color, finishes, and application to maximize perceived value and superior aesthetic competitiveness across the brand’s footwear product lines.

Travel as necessary to Asia, Europe, trade shows, retailers, or other external events.

TEAM COLLABORATION

Partner with and support product creation teams to deliver industry-leading products and stories.

Manage conversations with Footwear Designers and Developers on color and finish design trials and color executions.

Collaborate with Merchandising Team to execute trend-tuned lines from concept to commercialization.

Present concepts, points-of-view, and renderings with convincing confidence to inform audience decisions.

Support Designer I in growing their knowledge of performance footwear creation and production advancements to ensure and enhance correct color application.

Work closely with Apparel Design to collaborate on head-to-toe color execution within seasonal merchandising stories.

Create, manage, and communicate physical and digital color tools, strategy documents, and databases, and tools for use by Color Team and partners.

Maintain calendars and timelines that result in a timely completion of all projects.

Work closely with the Sustainability Team to ensure color palette selection meets sustainability goals.

Seek out mentorship from more tenured Designers and Leaders.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Time Management: Establish and monitor your individual deadlines, ensure adherence to overall timelines, and accurate completion of multiple projects at a time. Identify and communicate potential barriers to meeting completion timelines as soon as they arise. Quickly adjust designs based on feedback.

Workload Expectation: Own 3-5 new styles per season while updating color and finish execution on 4-6 carryover styles. 

CAD File Management and Optimization: As a mid-level designer, you are expected to optimize files for performance, ensuring that assets are easy to share, edit, and repurpose. You will refine workflows to reduce unnecessary steps and improve efficiency 

Have a strong understanding of the design jet stream to keep informed on what’s trending and how this may influence design.

Conduct visits to our factories and material suppliers to gain insights and continue to grow a high level of understanding of the footwear manufacturing process.

Travel as necessary to Asia, Europe, trade shows, races, retailers, or other external events.

INNOVATION

Learning/Education: Continually expand your knowledge and techniques, and educate junior designers on Brooks’ best practices. Stay up to date on advancements in color technologies and tools, and share your insights with the team, improving processes where applicable.

Industry Knowledge: Continuously deepen your understanding of performance footwear construction, consumer knowledge, biomechanics, and design philosophy. 

Workflow Improvements: In addition to personal workflow optimization, you’ll play an active role in improving team-wide processes. You’ll explore automated, procedural, and AI-integrated workflows to enhance our process.

To be considered for this position, please submit a portfolio of your work along with your application materials.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree in Design or related field required; may substitute education for specific experience.

5+ years of experience in a graphic, color, CMF, or industrial design role, or related role.

Power user in vector-based graphics software applications.

Mastery of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, Mac operating system.

Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint etc.).

Understanding of color composition and theory with a quick, learned eye for color, materials, and finishes.

Thorough knowledge of art and design with clear understanding of visual design and trend forecasting.

Proven experience creating and leading the execution of vision and strategy.

Ability to understand design concepts and think conceptually.

Ability to create designs that meet category needs and commercial opportunities.

Ability to operate in a fast-paced, ever-changing work environment.

Ability to build and foster relationships in a team environment. This position requires employee to engage with many stakeholders, as well as manage various information and relationships.

Ability to influence and collaborate with key business partners.

Keen attention to detail in planning, organization, and execution of tasks, while still seeing the big picture and understanding how all pieces fit together and affect one another.

Demonstration of innovation and initiative: always looking at improving product and process while also displaying a willingness to dive into the details and help out where necessary.

Travel 10% (Domestically/Internationally).

Excellent presentation skills.

Excellent written and communication skills.