Color DesignerHybrid

Title: Color Designer

Location: Beaverton, OR

Duration: 6 month contract

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential, obliterate boundaries and push out the edges of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We’re looking for a Color Designer. This role will create original color palettes and narratives, strategize use of palettes and execute color design across a range of product in Global Sportswear Apparel. Working collaboratively with Design, Business and Development, you will create focused solutions for success.

We are looking for a hardworking Color Designer, who has the ability to comfortably navigate ambiguity and define new spaces. Someone who is flexible and can adapt to changing priorities.

Having a broad understanding of the consumer, sport, and trends in that industry from a color perspective is important. We are looking for a skilled presenter, storyteller and collaborator, who is experienced at using color as a vehicle to story tell, are able to speak to the intent of color and gain buy-in from design and business partners. Someone who has a thorough understanding of material types, color development, and garment construction. Understands how different materials take color and can use that knowledge to inform design decisions, foresee issues before they arrive, and make innovative, garment-right color decisions.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

As our Color Designer, you will be working with Color Design leadership to design and apply the color strategy for multiple collections. You will design color at the pack and product level; ideating and delivering concepts that highlight material x color, print x color and graphics x color. You’ll be an active and proficient participant in the creative and development process, partnering closely with members of the Design, Product Marketing, Merchandising, and Development.

As our Color Designer, you will develop color palettes to link into seasonal narratives, build strong presentation tools, and apply color on line art to detail the creation of each product. You will research and deliver color, design, and directional work that influence and impact the product aesthetic, application, and target audience. You’ll use sophisticated design skills to build original, innovative color solutions. You’ll design color strategy for collections that deliver against multiple needs: such as the Nike creative vision, the consumer, the product, the material and the business needs. You will present your ideas in ways that illustrate how you have considered all the different needs of the brief.

WHO YOU WILL WORK WITH

The first point of contact that you will collaborate with is the Design Triad, consisting of Apparel Design, Color, Graphics and Print. Layering in Product Marketing, Merchandising, Color/Material/Trim Development as well as Tech Development.

WHAT YOU WILL BRING

• Minimum 4 years industry experience in color design/applicable area
• Passion for storytelling with the ability to translate narratives onto physical product
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of color technology and how to achieve desired color effects: materials, dyes, washes, finishes and color achievability
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of color trends and the consumer
• Solid knowledge of apparel design and apparel development process
• Ability to conduct in-depth research in order to drive innovative design solutions
• Ability to build seasonal concepts
• Creates and delivers powerful presentations of seasonal design proposals that effectively communicate the concept behind the line for internal and external audiences
• Ability to plan and execute the product color details and review all samples, troubleshoot for achievability issues and clearly communicate changes in order to ensure timely completion of each project
• Ability to articulate how color can affect product and sales
• Ability to understand challenges or underlying concerns, share ideas and develop effective responses or elevate to higher management
• Ability to work independently and harmoniously in a diverse group
• Excellent verbal, written, visual, and high-profile communication skills in local market language, including meeting facilitation and presentations
• Provides color design support for design team as needed outside of assigned product load
• Highly proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator & Photoshop) and Keynote on a Mac Platform