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Freelance Design Director

Complex

Job Location:

Los Angeles, CA - USA

Yearly Salary: USD 125000 - 138000

Posted: 29 September 2026 (Yesterday)

Application Deadline: 27 December 2026

Vacancies: 1 Vacancy

Department:

Brand Partnerships

Job Summary

Company And Culture

Complex is the definitive platform for global youth culture and music lifestyle seamlessly integrating cutting-edge content commerce and live experiences with unparalleled scale. Through innovative content Complex tells stories of music streetwear and style sports art and beyond. Its content engages in a dynamic conversation with the audience reflecting and shaping the zeitgeist of convergence culture. A powerful media juggernaut paired with a curated marketplace Complex is redefining the way fans interact with their favorite brands and artists and reshaping the future of digital culture and commerce.

Why Were Hiring

Our team is growing and looking for a freelance Design Director to raise the bar within the Complex Brand Partnerships team. Youll work within the Branded Art and Design team cross functionally with branded content (editorial and video) account management product and experiential to ideate and execute deliverables. We offer a full range of productsfrom digital content to live eventsto our clients and need someone with a strong technical skillset and ability to work from concept ideation to finished execution bringing a wide range of deliverables to life.

Were seeking a well rounded utility player with a multi-disciplinary approach and deep expertise within innovative graphic design social design display media printed collateral merch and experiential concepting. This role is ideal for a creative visionary who understands how to transform cultural insights and partner brand guidelines into iconic visual expressions across mediumsfrom digital to physical. This individual is self-motivated highly collaborative and relentlessly curious consistently sparking new ideas pushing boundaries and elevating design and creative across a range of platforms.

What Youll Do

Youll work cross-functionally with the Branded Production and Publishing teams Experiential Producers Product Web Development and Account Managers to craft thoughtful executions from forward-thinking video photo and social campaigns to immersive events.

Youll report into design and branded content leadership elevating content on a variety of platforms and youre adept at being a player-coach who can both do the work and guide partnering designers towards better visual outputs.

Youll demonstrate an ability to listen and receive internal and external creative feedback with a high level of urgency professionalism and attention to detail. Youll consistently create engaging designs with a strong focus on Art Direction. An ability to composite in 2D is a must and a background in 3D rendering is a major plus.

You can execute within design and production workstreams in a fast paced environment and you have a strong understanding of the Complex brand the different IP within our world and how to maintain our tone of voice in branded work.

The Specifics

Mentor and Lead: Concept and pitch work to internal and external teams. Work with designers bringing concepts and campaign objectives to life
Collaborate: Working with design leaders account managers experiential and product to create a visual roadmap for a variety of deliverables
Executing projects: Taking projects from concept to launch creating within existing workflow systems while marrying brand guidelines and the Complex visual ID
Presenting: Youll pitch and sell your work in to senior leadership and brand clients as necessary
Display and Social Design: Ability to translate larger campaign initiatives and creative into display and social deliverables
Experiential and Event Design: Work with design leadership on conceptualizing and executing physical brand experiencesfrom bespoke pop-up activations to large-scale experiences like ComplexCon
Apparel: Design of limited-edition merch drops and collabs bringing fashion sensibility to product storytelling
Researching: Conducting research to identify problems and validate designs
Expert in latest Mac software: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop Illustrator After Effects) Google Slides Figma ReadyMag SketchUp or other experiential 3D render software
Impressive wide-ranging portfolio (brand print event editorial and product is a plus)
Working knowledge of current AI render platforms

Who You Are

Minimum 6-8 years of graphic design experience and art direction experience within the last 3-4 years at an agency culturally-adjacent media publisher or in-house brand
Passion for forward-thinking design across digital print experiential and product
Voracious consumer of pop culture and working knowledge of trends in music events streetwear and fashion at large
Well-organized with strict attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem solving
Excellent communication skills: written verbal interpersonal
Able to support design decisions using industry insight best practices and tried and true execution approaches
Obsess about the details and push the creative until its reached the best execution
Highly responsible self-motivated and able to thrive in an energetic fast-paced high growth entrepreneurial environment
Must have strong time management skills and the ability to pivot from project to project juggling multiple at a time
Passion for materials within tangible design for apparel packaging print and experiential builds

$125000 - $138000 a year

The Pay Range which consists of salary and commission for this position is listed. Actual pay will vary based on factors including but not limited to location experience and performance. The range listed is just one component of Complex Total Rewards offerings for employees.

Were an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin veteran or disability status.

The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of the job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some incumbents assigned to the job to perform a different combination of duties.

Complexparticipates in E-Verify and willprovide the federal government with yourForm I-9 information to confirm that you areauthorized to work in the U.S.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for visa sponsorship.

Required Experience:

Director

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