Visual Design Strategist

Visual Design Strategist

Chicago | Full Time 

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We are Relish Works, an innovation hub focused on challenging the status quo and pioneering the next evolution of the food industry. Relish Works operates as an independent start-up working with a top wholesale food distributor to identify growth opportunities and create user-centered solutions for the food service industry. We are a scrappy group of passionate practitioners and are looking to add a Visual Design Strategist to our Chicago-based innovation studio.

About the role:

As a Visual Design Strategist, you will apply your combined talents of systems thinking and visual design to synthesize research findings, illustrate new experiences and pitch ideas for new strategies, businesses and service offerings in the foodservice industry. You will collaborate with interdisciplinary project teams of strategic thinkers and doers who have skills, experience and expertise across user research, experience design, business strategy, and project management. 

This role is best for someone who is a curious, creative, visual thinker with a passion for translating complexity into clarity. A designer in this role will know how to push visual boundaries and bring new ideas to the table, without sacrificing clarity of message. 

Your day to day could be a combination of any of the following: 

• Synthesizing and visualizing qualitative and quantitative research into diagrams and infographics
• Creating frameworks to structure the thinking behind new concepts
• Communicating new insights and ideas through wireframes, diagrams, illustrations, presentations, print pieces, and videos (from sketches to high production quality)
• Designing and developing executive level communication materials: Google slide presentations, decks, corporate communications
• Creating brands, experiences, and engaging content behind new business ideas to test in market
• Applying principles of information hierarchy, color, typography, and layout to create stories that are both beautiful and clear.
• Collaborating with teams and leveraging expertise across Relish functional areas (innovation, ventures, investments)

You should apply if you have:

• A bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent degree in visual communication design
• 2-4 years of experience in a user-centered design field (cross-industry consulting experience preferred)
• Ability to frame problems and present results to an executive level audience
• Excellent facilitation and verbal communication skills 
• Strong written and visual communication skills
• Comfort with ambiguity and ability to thrive in a self-directed culture
• Openness to learn from diverse perspectives and collaborate on multidisciplinary teams
• Motivation to solve end-user challenges, meet stakeholder needs, and deliver on business goals
• Desire to work on a lot of different types and sizes of projects 
• Aspiration to work in a startup environment where we move fast
• Willingness to ask questions
• A learner mindset - you are always interested in expanding your knowledge and perspective 

You will thrive if you align with our values:

• Our team is inclusive, passionate, resourceful, and dependable. We are a team of problem solvers who have super powers in strategy, research, design, and communication. We prioritize flexibility and collaboration in our work. We expect our team members to feel accountability for all parts of the business, not just their discipline.

This position is based in Chicago, requiring work in a hybrid office model located in The Loop and typically less than 20% travel.