Creative Director

The Company

Stones Throw Records is the independent record label founded in 1996 by DJ Peanut Butter Wolf with offices in Los Angeles and London. Known for a richly diverse roster, past touchstone releases include albums by Madvillain, J Dilla, Madlib, Mayer Hawthorne, Dam-Funk and Aloe Blacc. The current roster includes artists such as Sudan Archives, Mild High Club, Knxwledge, Mndsgn, Benny Sings, NxWorries (Anderson. Paak & Knxwledge), Automatic, Jerry Paper, John Carroll Kirby, Kiefer and Los Retros.

Position Summary

The Creative Director oversees the visual brand identity and art direction of Stones Throw and its artist campaigns. This is a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of this iconic label’s visual culture. The position leads the art department, ensuring the highest quality visual and creative aesthetic across the board. Stones Throw is proudly collaborative with its artists and this hire understands each artist’s vision and translates it to brilliant visual creative to be used across an entire marketing campaign, to engage with fans and bring each artist and the Stones Throw brand to new generations and audiences.

The Creative Director is both the curator and steward of Stones Throws’ timeless creative legacy, and at the same time breaks ground in visuals and formats to meet the needs of new generations of artists and fans. The role works and collaborates with a close-knit team, and takes the lead and executes ambitious creative that is eye-catching, timely, and cohesive. The role takes ownership over creative campaigns, art directing the big picture and ensures the details are executed to the highest standard. With a knack for storytelling and a strong background in visual design and creative work, the new hire will be able to hit the ground running, sustain and contribute to the body of iconic visuals that have been synonymous with Stones Throw for over two decades, and at the same time chart the company’s visual future.

Responsibilities

• Supervise all visual creative to ensure Stones Throw’s brand identity is maintained and kept consistent, and continues to grow and evolve.
• Lead visual creative for the label’s emerging front-line artists as well as established and legacy artists and catalog.
• Lead the creative aspect of label-branded campaigns e.g. brand collaborations, capsule collections, etc.
• Work closely with artists, management and label staff to tell the artist’s story and realize their vision through compelling creative, from album art to social content assets, merch creative, advertising assets, and everything in between, from concept to completion.
• Execute multi-platform creative for artist marketing campaigns, with a digital-forward approach.
• As business growth allows, build a small creative team of one or two, covering art, design and layout, video, photography, graphic design, and more. Directly manage and develop a junior in-house creative and delegate select responsibilities to them.
• Meet the unique creative needs of each artist and project, and source and commission select outside freelance creatives including visual artists, graphic designers, photographers, animators, video directors, editors, stylists, et cetera.
• Think outside the box for creative ideas such as collaborations with brands, innovative activations and groundbreaking approaches to convey artists’ vision and engage and acquire fans.
• Ensure Stones Throw’s deep catalog is kept active with timely reissues and repackagings that appeal to existing fans and new audiences.

Skills / Experience:

• 7+ years of working in design, creative or art direction roles, with a breadth of experience across formats and platforms.
• Proven track record in creating and commissioning visually compelling creative, with a strong, demonstrable proficiency in video content.
• Deep knowledge of and immersion in the music and creative landscape, understanding of how visual creative and music interact to tell a story.
• Creative accomplishments and skills relevant and transferable to supporting frontline music releases, music catalog, artists as brand, and label as brand.
• An extensive network of contacts from visual artists to videographers, strong relationships in the creative industries, and an instinct for hiring the right creative for the right job.
• Resourceful at working with independent label budgets.
• Organized and able to juggle multiple demanding projects at once, as Stones Throw is a label with a busy release schedule.
• An excellent communicator who can bring multiple ideas to the table, and easily and fluently illustrate creative ideas to a range of stakeholders each with different needs.
• A profound understanding of Stones Throw’s history, audience, and musical and visual culture.
• Knowledge of the various platforms on which creative lives and how audiences interact with it should come as second nature.
• Demonstrated ability to balance creative innovation and boundary pushing with the realities of budgets and deadlines.
• Strong relationship management, collaboration, delegating and mentoring skills.
• College degree in creative/visual arts field preferred.

Compensation

Competitive salary plus health benefits, 401K matching, PTO, paid holidays (including December 24 to January 1), and other benefits. Depending on relevant experience, skills and relationships, it is anticipated that the final hire will be offered a base salary at an annual rate between $140K and $150K plus bonus.

Apply

Along with your resume, please submit a link to your portfolio and/or relevant social media.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Stones Throw is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law. Further, the company strives to create a diverse, welcoming, equitable and inclusive environment for all applicants, employees and partners.

Stones Throw Records