Designer, Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design - IC Extended

Role Overview

Industrial Color is hiring a creative Designer focused on visual merchandising and experiential design to help turn brand stories into engaging physical retail experiences, pop-ups, and event activations for a luxury beauty client. The position supports the Visual Merchandising and Experiential Design teams by shaping merchandising concepts, building mockups and renders, and assembling presentation materials.

This role also serves as an important bridge between creative strategy and the rollout of guidance to regional markets, helping ensure that marketing messaging is reflected consistently while still allowing for local adaptation. The work follows a hybrid schedule, with several days each week spent onsite at the client’s office in Midtown Manhattan. Background in beauty, retail, or luxury is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Help generate fresh visual merchandising and experiential concepts that strengthen brand visibility and increase shopper engagement across retail environments.
• Build detailed mockups, polished renders, and technical drawings for merchandising ideas and activation concepts, balancing creativity with practical execution.
• Create and present clear, compelling decks for internal partners such as marketing teams and zone stakeholders, explaining both the concept and the reasoning behind it.
• Work closely with project managers to translate creative direction into usable directives, guidelines, and development materials.
• Make sure all design work supports the broader marketing strategy and aligns with campaign and product launch messaging.
• Assist regional and zone teams in adapting global visual merchandising guidance and experiential concepts for local market needs.
• Support the creation and upkeep of visual merchandising standards, directives, and planograms to maintain consistent brand execution.
• Coordinate with vendors and production partners to help deliver high-quality merchandising and activation outcomes for key initiatives.

Required Experience and Skills

• Strong creative thinking with the ability to develop ideas that express a brand’s identity through physical spaces.
• Ability to interpret commercial goals and marketing plans and convert them into effective design solutions.
• Excellent communication skills for presenting ideas clearly to cross-functional teams and partners.
• Comfort working collaboratively with internal groups and external vendors in a fast-moving environment.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, and the ability to manage several projects while meeting deadlines.
• Resourceful approach to solving design and implementation challenges.
• Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Architecture, Environmental Design, Visual Merchandising, or a related creative discipline.
• 4 to 5 years of overall experience in visual merchandising, retail design, or experiential marketing, ideally in beauty, fashion, or luxury.
• A strong portfolio demonstrating merchandising concepts, experiential work, and completed project examples.
• Hands-on proficiency with SketchUp, other 3D modeling tools, and 2D design software such as Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.
• Experience preparing presentation decks.
• Understanding of retail settings, consumer behavior, and storytelling through physical brand experiences.

Compensation and Benefits

The expected annual salary for this position is $70,000 to $85,000. Final compensation depends on factors such as labor market conditions, role type, internal pay alignment, budget, work location, and the candidate’s experience and skill set.

Benefits include major medical, dental, and vision coverage, along with FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits.

About the Company

Industrial Color is part of CoCreativ, a group of integrated creative production businesses that also includes Globaledit and Smashbox Studios. The company supports major brands, agencies, and creative professionals with a broad range of production services. For more than 30 years, it has been recognized for innovation and for delivering production, post-production, and creative technology solutions.

Its headquarters are in Tribeca, New York, with additional offices in Los Angeles and studios in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. The company’s client list includes major names such as Amazon, Apple, Christie’s, Disney, L'Oréal, LVMH, Mercedes, Michael Kors, Nike, Puma, Rivian, Tiffany & Co., Tumi, and Warner Brothers Discovery.

Work Arrangement

This position is hybrid, with multiple onsite days each week at the client’s Midtown Manhattan location in New York City.