Position Details

• Position Type: Contract (1099)

• Work Arrangement: Remote welcome — hybrid preferred (Detroit, MI)

• Office: Backtalk Detroit, 1533 Cadillac Blvd, 202, Detroit, MI 48214

• Schedule: 20 hours/week — Project-based, with work scheduled based on studio and client needs

• Compensation: $42/hour

• Start Date: ASAP

This role will begin on a contract basis, with work scheduled as needed across Backtalk Detroit projects.

Contractors will be given as much advance notice as possible when scheduling work days. Specific schedules, project expectations, deliverables, and timelines will be communicated before work is assigned.

Role Overview

Backtalk Detroit is looking for an experienced Graphic Designer to support our Design team across brand, print, digital, campaign, and environmental applications.

This is a hands-on design role for someone who can take established creative direction and confidently carry it through a wide range of applications. While the work will span general graphic design, strong experience in print and out-of-home design is particularly important for this role. We're looking for someone who understands both the creative and technical considerations required to take work from screen to production.

The Graphic Designer will work closely with our Lead Designer and Brand Designer, taking ownership of assigned design work from creative brief through final delivery. Like all members of the Backtalk team, this is a client-facing role that requires strong communication, collaboration, organization, and project ownership alongside strong creative execution.

Reports To: Lead Designer.

Responsibilities

Graphic Design

• Design across a range of brand applications, including:

  • Marketing and campaign collateral

  • Presentations and sales materials

  • Social and digital graphics

  • Reports, brochures, and editorial materials

  • Event materials

  • Signage and environmental graphics

  • Out-of-home advertising

  • Packaging and merchandise

  • Business cards, stationery, and other brand collateral

• Translate established visual identities and creative concepts across new applications.

• Develop strong layouts, typography, information hierarchy, and visual systems.

• Adapt creative appropriately across print, digital, environmental, and campaign formats.

• Create templates and final assets for internal or client use.

Print + Out-of-Home

• Design and prepare work for professional print, large-format, environmental, and out-of-home production.

• Understand and account for bleeds, margins, color profiles, resolution, folds, finishes, dielines, scale, viewing distance, and other production considerations.

• Prepare accurate, production-ready files according to printer, fabricator, media vendor, or production partner specifications.

• Review proofs and make necessary production revisions.

• Communicate with vendors as needed to confirm specifications and troubleshoot production issues.

• Flag production considerations early enough to inform the design rather than waiting until final delivery.

Design Execution

• Receive tasks, creative direction, and project briefs and independently carry assigned work through completion.

• Apply established brand standards while using strong design judgment when an application requires interpretation.

• Present work internally and to clients with a clear rationale for design decisions.

• Incorporate internal and client feedback accurately and efficiently.

• Maintain clean, organized working files and final deliverables according to Backtalk Detroit standards.

Client + Project Collaboration

• Participate in client meetings, presentations, and feedback conversations related to assigned work.

• Communicate design thinking and recommendations confidently with clients.

• Build strong, professional client relationships and contribute to a collaborative client experience.

• Manage assigned tasks, deadlines, feedback, and project documentation within Backtalk Detroit's project management system (currently Notion).

• Keep project statuses, deadlines, and next steps current so the broader team has clear visibility into assigned work.

• Proactively flag questions, timeline concerns, production considerations, or missing information before they affect delivery.

• Collaborate with strategists, copywriters, developers, content creators, and external production partners throughout the work.

• Contribute ideas, references, techniques, and production knowledge that strengthen the Design team's overall practice.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of professional graphic design experience.

• Strong portfolio demonstrating versatility across brand, print, digital, and campaign design.

• Demonstrated experience designing for print and out-of-home applications required.

• Advanced proficiency in Figma, Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Canva, and Powerpoint.

• Strong understanding of professional print production, prepress, and large-format production.

• Strong typography, layout, hierarchy, and composition skills.

• Experience working within established visual identities and brand guidelines.

• Ability to take creative direction and independently carry work through execution.

• Strong attention to detail across both design and final production.

• Comfortable presenting work, receiving feedback, and communicating directly with clients.

• Experience working within collaborative project management systems; Notion experience is a plus.

• Agency or studio experience preferred.

Success Looks Like

• Produces strong, thoughtful design across a variety of applications, not just print.

• Can receive a brief and established creative direction and independently move the work forward.

• Delivers technically accurate, production-ready work without requiring significant correction.

• Applies brand systems consistently while bringing good judgment to new applications.

• Communicates design decisions clearly and confidently with both clients and the internal team.

• Proactively identifies design, production, capacity, or timeline concerns and communicates them early.

• Keeps project information, tasks, and next steps organized and current so collaborators understand where work stands.

• Collaborates generously, respecting the expertise of others, and bringing the right voices into the work at the right time.

• Communicates openly about progress, expectations, roadblocks, timelines, and what comes next.

• Grounds design decisions in strategy, audience, context, and the realities of the project.

What This Role Does Not Own

• Overall creative direction

• Brand strategy or positioning

• Final creative approval

• Copywriting

• Web development