Production Designer
We're an independently owned FASTSIGNS franchise in Irvine. Locally run, tight-knit, and growing. The team: one outside sales rep, a store manager, a production crew, and one graphic designer. That designer seat is the one this posting is for, and it's the seat the rest of the shop revolves around. Without good art, nothing gets printed, cut, or installed. You will not be one of twelve designers shipping into a queue. You'll be the designer. What you build today goes out the door this week and shows up on a building, a vehicle, a tradeshow booth, or a storefront soon after.
We make signs, vehicle graphics, banners, wall and window graphics, ADA and wayfinding, dimensional letters, and decals. Basically anything visual a local business needs. Customers range from single retail jobs to multi-location rollouts.
What you'll actually do day to day
Design and prepress (most of your time).
- Build new artwork from customer briefs, rough sketches, or "make it look like this."
- Take customer-supplied art (often a low-res JPG of a logo from 2009) and rebuild or clean it up so it actually prints.
- Prep production-ready files: outline fonts, embed images, scale at output size, set bleeds, color-manage for our output devices.
- Maintain the customer logo and art library so we're not rebuilding the same files every order.
- Inspect every job before it goes to output: right material, right device settings, right size, right colors.
Running print and cut production.
- Operate the roll-to-roll printer: color management, media loading, RIP and print queue, quality checks. That list grows as the shop grows. A desktop UV printer, a flatbed, and a second roll-to-roll are on the roadmap, and you'll be trained on and running those too.
- Operate the vinyl plotter: set up cut paths, load rolls, run cuts, weed, mask, and hand off (or apply, depending on the job).
File prep for other equipment (you won't run these).
- Prep files for the CNC router: clean vectors, proper tool paths, accounting for kerf, tabs, and material. The operator depends on you sending files that don't waste material or burn time.
- Prep files for the laser cutter: correct line weights and colors for cut vs. score vs. raster. Same idea. The operator's day goes well or badly based on your file.
Light hands-on production.
- Laminate prints when the job calls for it.
- Mount printed vinyl or paper to substrate (foam board, ACM, coroplast, etc.).
- Help out with applications and finishing when production is slammed and you're between design jobs.
Customer-facing when needed.
- Occasionally hop on a quick call or email thread with a customer to clarify direction before you burn hours going down the wrong path.
What we're looking for
- Real proficiency in Adobe Illustrator (the workhorse), Photoshop, and InDesign. Not "I took a class once." We mean sit-down-and-work proficiency.
- 2+ years of design experience. Sign, print, or production background is a big plus. We'll also consider strong designers from adjacent fields if you're willing to learn the production side fast.
- Solid file hygiene. Layered, named, organized. We have to come back to your files months later, and so does the next designer we hire.
- Comfort with print production realities: bleeds, color profiles, vector vs. raster, why a 72dpi logo is a problem.
- Willingness to get up from the desk. This is not a pure-design seat. You'll be on your feet part of the day, running equipment and working with materials alongside the design work.
- Ability to prioritize across 10 to 20 active jobs without dropping balls.
- High school diploma or equivalent. Formal design training is great but not required if you can do the work.
Growth
Because of how the team is structured, growth here looks like whatever you're good at and want to do more of. Two real paths, and you pick:
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Depth in design. Take on the harder, more creative jobs. Own brand work for repeat customers. As we hire a second designer down the road, become the lead.
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Breadth into production. Cross-train on the CNC and laser cutter so you can take a job from concept to finished sign without handoffs. As we add equipment, become the person who knows every machine in the shop.
We'll figure out which path fits as we get to know you. Either one is real.
The basics
- Full-time, on-site at our Irvine shop.
- Monday through Friday, daytime hours.
- Paid time off, 401(k) with match, and competitive pay. Happy to discuss specifics when we talk.
How to apply
Send a resume and a portfolio (link or PDF). Portfolio matters more than the resume, so show us actual work. If you've done sign or print production, put that up front.
