WordPress' Longreads is Hiring Art Director (Anywhere)
Longreads, founded in 2009, is dedicated to helping people find and share the best storytelling in the world. Featuring and producing in-depth investigative pieces, profiles, interviews, commentary, book reviews, audio stories, and personal essays. Stories have been included in several nonfiction editions of The Best American series, recognized by the Pushcart Prize’s board of contributing editors, and nominated for three National Magazine Awards. Its parent company is Automattic, the makers of WordPress.com, which generously funds the work.
Currently looking for an Art Director to be in charge of in-house art across the site. Candidate must have a passion for great stories and a knack for interpreting text into engaging visuals.
This is a part-time contract position — roughly 20 hours per week. Eventually, this role has the option of expanding into a full-time contract, Art Directing commissioned illustrations as well.
REQUIREMENTS
A curiosity to art direct remotely. The Longreads team works completely online — which means that wherever you live, once you have an Internet connection you are “at studio.”
The ability to interpret stories into engaging visuals. The core of your job will be to read drafts of stories, and to translate those into memorable art. You’ll need a demonstrable grasp of visual communication, and a clear understanding of traditional illustration principles.
Strong task-management skills. You’ll be coordinating with writers and editors to provide art on time, and will keep track of the stories coming down the pipeline.
A portfolio of both design and illustration work. This role is a bit of a hybrid; you’ll use both skills. Sometimes you’ll be laying out text and images inside of a graphic, other times you’ll be creating original illustrations.
A skill for communicating clearly by text in English. At Longreads, we primarily interact via the chat program Slack. You’ll check in there daily to discuss upcoming stories and share concepts with the team.
A passion for collaboration. Longreads is a cooperative community. Our authors, editors, and art directors work together to share the author’s voice.
A sensitivity to culture and representation. Being the visual voice for an author includes making certain that cultural representations and considerations are respected.
A passion for reading. We’re called Longreads for a reason. We’ll provide you with a hearty diet of pre-published essays, reported stories, and more. Your Instapaper will never be empty.
RESPONSIBILITIES
You’ll be personally creating art for about 15 stories per week. In some cases, this will involve finding the perfect photo for a story or collaging together a few images. When the story calls for it, you’ll create full original illustrations to accompany a piece. The medium, style, and aesthetic for these illustrations is largely up to you — looking for someone with a vision for art at Longreads.
If you’d like this to be your next challenge, send your resume, a portfolio, and answers to the following:
Why you’d be a good fit for the role.
What is the art direction or illustration accomplishment that you are most proud of? If possible, speak specifically about a time when you added value to a written piece through art.
