Senior Designer

Join us to do great work, for good people

Johnson Banks is a London-based branding agency run by Michael Johnson. For over thirty years, the company has blurred the edges of strategy and design to create narrative-driven design that continues to push at the creative boundaries of 21st century branding.

Almost 100% of our work is in education, not-for-profit, culture, climate change and philanthropy. We’re committed to design that makes a genuine difference to our world.

This autumn we’re finishing a huge rebrand of London’s first, and largest university. We’re working on projects for the WWF, the National Trust and the Gates Foundation. We’re helping educational content creators supercharge their brands. We’re rebranding the nation’s Naval Museum network and launching a long-running rebrand of RIBA.

We search for projects where we can make a mark. We attract clients who admire our outlook. We seek out designers who want to do important work, and make an impact. If this sounds like you, we’d like to meet you.

The opportunity

You’ll work collaboratively alongside Michael in our Clapham Common studio at the highest level of branding and campaigning. You’ll take a creative lead on first concepts then follow them through to final applications – we’re a boutique studio that prides itself on its level of craft, so all-rounders thrive here.

You’ll develop branding ideas, concepts and campaigns with the depth and breadth to become coherent branding systems. And you’ll be able to apply those ideas to everything from identity to art direction, motion, print and web, to typography and film.

As a Senior Designer you’ll be expected to help and mentor the junior staff. You’ll present your work and work directly with client teams as projects progress. You’ll take responsibility for timelines and workflow and work closely with our Account Director to ensure that projects stay on track.

You’ll work closely with the senior team to ensure presentations, case studies, social media and studio marketing looks as good as it can be, and communicates clearly.

We’re looking for someone with:

• At least 7 to 8 years of experience
• At least one qualification in graphic design
• The right to work in the UK
• A track record of having great branding ideas with the ability to see them through
• A desire to keep pushing at the boundaries of branding creativity
• A high level of proficiency across the Adobe Creative Suite – with knowledge of After Effects, Keynote and Figma a bonus
• Experience with mentoring and overseeing other designers
• Experience at using strategy and narrative as a springboard for world-class creativity
• Good communication skills and client-facing experience
• A collaborative, open mindset – plus the ability to roll with the punches when projects iterate or research redirects
• The ability to multi-task, hit deadlines but still maintain quality
• The desire to come and work in-person in our Clapham studio
• The ability and desire to source, create and research visual assets relevant to the project and collaborate with photographers, illustrators and typographers
• The awareness to stay up to date with current trends in design, but the ability to step outside of design to search for inspiration elsewhere
• The grit, resilience and resolve to do the best work of your life

In return, you’ll get:

• A competitive salary with regular reviews
• 20 days annual leave, plus 8 UK public and bank holidays, and extra leave over the Christmas period. After a two year period, you gain one extra day’s annual leave for every additional year worked here
• The encouragement to give back and do some teaching/volunteering for up to two days a year
• A company pension with generous employer contributions, along with a pension advisor
• Skills training as needed
• A conference budget/allowance to stay up to speed with current trends
• Networking opportunities, global clients and guaranteed access to important projects
• A small team of dedicated professionals to bounce ideas off and be inspired by
• Regular socials, Friday lunches and the opportunity to join one of South London’s most ambitious pub teams
• A collaborative and competitive environment in which you’ll grow your career, responsibilities and portfolio
• The right to choose the studio music all day on your birthday (even if your music taste is terrible)

Equal opportunities

We are an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. And – we appreciate that preparing applications takes time. So we will endeavour to communicate with you and acknowledge your application, and will email directly if shortlisted.