Digital Design Assistant
The listing period for this opportunity has passed.
This short-term paid internship is perfect for an emerging graphic and web designer based in Calgary looking to gain production experience in a fast-paced live broadcasting environment, and apply their extensive training in Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere) to help realize Wordfest’s ambitious vision for its 25@25 anniversary celebration, new ImaginonAir broadcast platform, and Wordfest Youth online programming this fall.
The digital design assistant must be detail-oriented, professionally trained in the Adobe Creative Suite software, possess a thorough knowledge of website typography and CSS, and be familiar with production workflows and templating best practices (e.g. artboards and layer management). The successful candidate will be flexible, hard-working, proactive, comfortable problem-solving independently, and be able to work effectively in a work-from-home environment with a blended team.
Day-to-day supervision and project management will be provided by Wordfest’s Director of Audience Engagement & Development, Everett Wilson. The intern will receive mentorship and creative direction from Wordfest’s Creative Director, Jason Logan.
Key Responsibilities
- Translate final design concepts, sketches and briefs provided by the creative director into final production-ready assets that satisfy all specs and use-cases required (e.g. for the website, video, email marketing, and social media).
- Ensure industry best practices are followed consistently when creating and managing templates in Adobe Illustrator and other Adobe software products.
- Inspect the quality of all original artwork received externally that may impact final design production (e.g. headshots and book covers) and troubleshoot accordingly.
- Ensure that basic HTML tags and CSS information in any website copy appearing on the website are formatted correctly according to W3C guidelines and best-practices and are displaying as expected according to the design brief.
- Proactively identify, troubleshoot and resolve issues on the website from a user-experience perspective (e.g. broken links, image display anomalies, navigation problems, inconsistent formatting, etc). Report any concerns that may need the attention of senior staff.
Depending on the skills and interests of the successful candidate, the designer may also support other projects and initiatives such as the development of animated audio-visual media and back-end database management, as needed.
Who Should Apply
Due to public funding criteria established for this opportunity, recruitment for this position will place a strong focus on hiring youth and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) to develop expertise and skills needed to participate in the digital economy. This is an excellent opportunity for recent graduates or current students who have received post-secondary training in one or more of the disciplines listed in the qualifications section below.
All qualified applicants who meet the following minimum criteria are encouraged to apply:
- Be between the ages of 15 and 30 (inclusive) at the start of the internship.
- Be legally entitled to work in Canada.
- Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or a person who has been granted refugee status in Canada.
- Must not be in receipt of other employment benefits (EI) during the internship.
Qualifications
University or college student in one of the following areas: marketing communications, visual design, communication design, fine arts or multimedia with a concentration in website design. Students who demonstrate having received formal training in Adobe Creative Suite will receive priority consideration.
Technical Skills:
- Advanced knowledge or proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, specifically Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign.
- Demonstrated knowledge of HTML5 / CSS. Knowledge of PHP, Java and other scripts an asset but not a requirement.
- Knowledge of content management systems an asset (WordPress).
- Understanding of image formatting standards for web, video and pre-press best practices.
- Familiarity with Google Analytics, SEO, and W3C best practices.
- Copy-editing and proofreading experience an asset but not a requirement.
Soft Skills:
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Strong time-management and organizational skills.
- Ability to think creatively and communicate effectively.
- Ability to juggle multiple projects and prioritize workload.
- Flexibility and willingness to jump in.
- Ability to independently problem solve as well as work well in a work-from-home team environment.
Interest in books, authors, music, arts and culture.
Start Date: The successful candidate for this short-term contract position will be able to start immediately.
Salary: $20 /hr
Total Hours: 256 contracted hours
Duration: Internship must be completed over the course of no more than 16 weeks.
Submit a cover letter and resume in PDF format via email to Everett Wilson, Director of Audience Engagement and Development, at ewilson@wordfest.com. Wordfest is accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
