Explicitly states they hire globally: we would happily hire in Europe, Singapore, Chicago, or wherever you are. This affirms worldwide scope.
“Anywhere in the World” Geographic scope — No location restrictions stated — worldwide.
“we would happily hire in Europe, Singapore, Chicago, or wherever you are” Geographic scope — Explicit global hiring confirmation affirms worldwide eligibility per G4.
Headquarters: New York City
URL: https://garden3d.net/
We are hiring a Head of Design for the garden3d creative collective, to uphold an exceedingly high bar on every single thing we make
More details if you check our original job posting link
We are worker owned creative collective, innovating on everything from brands and IRL communities to IoT devices and cross platform apps. We share profit, open source everything, spin out new businesses, and invest in exciting ideas through financial and/or in-kind contributions.
We think of our garden3d as collective for creative people, prioritizing a happy, talented, and diverse studio culture. We work on projects that bring value to our world, and we balance deep care for the work we do with a genuine curiosity about life outside of our jobs.
The garden3d Head of Design has one mandate: nothing we put on the internet falls below an 8 out of 10. We are a house of brands - Sanctuary Computer (development), XXIX (design), Index Space (community), USB Club (digital community), and the garden3d umbrella itself - and all of them ship work into the world under our name. Working in close partnership with our founder & president Hugh Francis , this person sets the craft standard, and builds the culture that holds it.
You can be based anywhere. A lot of our people are in New York and there's some gravity here, but we already work across timezones and we would happily hire in Europe, Singapore, Chicago, or wherever you are. If you're the right person, we want to hear from you.
They span all of garden3d, but their home base is XXIX . Our design studio is where the standard gets set, and where it either holds or slips, so this person runs critique there. Regular reviews. Honest and specific feedback. A shared language for why one thing is better than another, and what practically to do about it. Then they carry that same bar everywhere: to Sanctuary Computer's product and web work, to Index, to new USB Club product launches, to garden3d TK and everything we publish.
They are also how we get better people. Our work is only as good as the designers making it, so this person hunts for exceptional talent, sells them on us, and sets them up to do the best work of their careers. The ideal candidate looks at a worker-owned collective with four studios, an open P&L and clients like Google, Figma and The Nobel Prize, and sees a design practice they can propel among the best in the world.
They span all of garden3d, but their home base is XXIX . Our design studio is where the standard gets set, and where it either holds or slips, so this person runs critique there. Regular reviews. Honest and specific feedback. A shared language for why one thing is better than another, and what practically to do about it. Then they carry that same bar everywhere: to Sanctuary Computer's product and web work, to Index, to new USB Club product launches, to garden3d TK and everything we publish.
They are also how we get better people. Our work is only as good as the designers making it, so this person hunts for exceptional talent, sells them on us, and sets them up to do the best work of their careers. The ideal candidate looks at a worker-owned collective with four studios, an open P&L and clients like Google, Figma and The Nobel Prize, and sees a design practice they can propel among the best in the world.
We aspire for 10/10, celebrate 9/10 and never publish anything that’s not an 8/10 - visually, narratively, and in production quality. This person holds that line across every website, brand, deck, film, case study and post, on every vertical. They would rather kill a piece than let a 6 out the door. Their feedback makes work better and faster, without micromanaging the people who make it.
XXIX is where our standard lives, so this is where most of their energy goes. They build and run its critique practice: reviews with teeth, feedback that is specific rather than polite, and a vocabulary the whole studio shares. A designer should leave a crit knowing exactly what to do next. Done well, the crit is what makes the studio better than any one person in it, including them.
They are a magnet for exceptional designers. They know where to find them, how to convince them, and how to give them enough room to do their best work while still holding them to the standard. People who work for this person should get visibly better, and should say so.
Our clients include Google, Stripe, Figma, Mozilla, The Nobel Prize and Gagosian. This person has sat across the table from companies like these, presented work, defended it, and shaped a brand narrative the client's own leadership could repeat back to their board. They can run a room, and they've done it across many industries, not just one.
They run new business for design. Pitching, scoping and closing the work we actually want, and building the relationships that bring the next one back. When a project is our highest-profile or highest-budget, they're in it: not always as the day-to-day lead, but as the person shaping the creative direction and making sure it lands. The work we win, and the work we're known for, is the clearest measure of whether this is going well.
Typography and editorial systems are core craft here, not a specialism we farm out. This person has a real practice in both. Their type choices should be one of the first things you notice about their portfolio, and one of the first things our designers learn from them.
Every engagement across our studios should end in a case study you'd want to read. Producing them is second nature to this person: interviewing the team, shaping the narrative, art-directing the assets, and shipping something that wins the studio its next project.
Our sites are usually the first place a prospective client or hire meets us. This person owns what each garden3d site says, what work it shows, and how clearly it explains what that studio can do. They keep sites, decks and collateral current as the work moves, so what people find is sharp and true.
garden3d shows up in person: events, conferences, talks, Index programming, and the dinners and openings where our world gathers. This person decides which of these deserve our time, gets us there looking like ourselves, and comes back with something to publish.
They model garden3d's values of partnership, curiosity, and accountability. The designers they lead do the best work of their careers here, because the feedback is honest, the recognition is earned, and the taste rubs off.
This is a great opportunity for someone looking to make a significant impact in a growing, dynamic company. Based on the responsibilities of this role, we think the right candidate has the following experience and skills:
The person we’re looking for is happy, relaxed and easy to get along with and appreciates a commitment to a culture of transparency, non-dictatorial leadership styles, and alternative methodologies. They’re flexible on anything except conceits that will lower their usually outstanding work quality. They work “smart” by carefully managing their workflow and team.
After you submit your application, a member of our team will reach out. Our interview process starts with an intro call to answer any questions you have about the role and to learn a bit more about your experience and interests.
From there, we’ll follow up with a panel interview call where you get to meet a few members of our team, to openly discuss some of our challenges and ensure your skills and interests align with where we’re going as a business.
This is a permanent leadership role. If this individual exceeds expectations in their first four months, we'll shape the permanent role together, with scope and compensation that grow as the studios and their revenue do. After a period of proven success (12 - 24 months), they become eligible to join our worker ownership program.
We start with a 4-month fraction trial contract, paid hourly between $110 - $175 p/hr pending seniority & experience. In the first few weeks of the trial, this individual will propose their own goals to define success in their trial, and present them to our leadership team for approval.
Transparency & Ownership: We release out Profit & Loss statements to the community each year, open source our best ideas, and talk business & money with everyone in the company. We’re proud to run our business with integrity, and for that reason we share everything with our team & community.
150% Carbon Negative: Our studio offsets 150% of the carbon we use to do business each year, dated back to our founding in 2015. We turn down work that is not in-line with our morals, and we encourage our peers to do the same. We have been certified climate neutral since 2021 .
Strong Morals: Since our founding, we've turned down somewhere between $1mm - $2mm of work that didn't meet our moral standards. (Most of that was DTC brands that can't show a valid sustainability initiative).
Ideas & Products: In our spare studio time, we work to build our own open source or internal products to diversify & bolster our income. We create amazing technology products for our clients, so why not for the studio?
Kindly submit a complete and thoughtful application, including relevant links that help verify your work experience and identity. Applications with missing or insufficient information will not move forward in the review process.
Opens the original posting, where you apply.
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