Make/Shift Visual Content Designer in Residence

Who we are

We are Make/Shift.

A new Creative People and Places project in the Amber Valley, Derbyshire.

We want more people to be able to make, create, do, repair, grow, share, care for and connect with what matters to them in the places that they live. We think this shift is essential for making our everyday lives more creative, connected and circular.

We know that every home, street, village, and neighbourhood is full of potential, but that power and resources aren’t distributed fairly. Our mission is to shift more power and resources to local people to make things happen together in the places they care about and to invite their neighbours along to join them … unleashing the maker in everyone.

We plan to weave together a network of makers, doers and connectors rooted in the Amber Valley who are supported through access to shared resources and creative platforms and inspired by thinkers, creators, artists, makers and story tellers from near and far.

Our strategy and approach will shift and change as we start to bring the Make-Shift programme into being with the creative people and places of Amber Valley. 

What are we looking for?

We are looking for a visual content designer to help us develop our visual identity. You will collaborate with us to develop and deliver materials that reflect the values, vision, and ambition of Make/Shift.

We are setting a challenge: how do we work in a way that is creative, dynamic, and collaborative in order to generate our visual identity? We are piloting a designer-in-residence model to explore how to do this.

We would love to hear from you if you are:

• Committed to working collaboratively to develop and deliver visuals that reflect the engagement and activities undertaken by Make/Shift
• Passionate about co-produced practices
• Curious about experimenting with creative ways of using our learning, insights and data to produce visual content

Timescale: 6 months

Budget: Up to £10,000

Location: Remote with some days in Derbyshire

Reporting to: Make/Shift Marketing and Communications Officer

Deadline for Expression of interest: Ongoing – the post will close when we have found the right person, so we encourage you to apply ASAP

The brief

Make/Shift is looking for an artist/maker to help develop our visual identity. We are an action research project, and this residency is a pilot scheme. We want to work with you over a six-month period and within a budget of £10,000 to include your day rate, travel, and the associated deliverables.

We need you to use the data and insights that we gain through our work as inspiration to create a cohesive look and feel to our visual assets. You could be a graphic designer, an illustrator or a creative artworker - someone who knows how to tell a story visually.

We’re a new programme, starting off on our journey, committed to taking an asset based, relationship centred, values led approach.

We are dynamic – the programme develops and changes as we learn and reflect so we are looking for someone who understands that this will be a reflective process focused on learning and change. If you have additional skills such as using platforms like Miro and Canva to create beautiful work, that would be a bonus.

Work required

We’ll need some initial assets quickly, such as a logo, basic email/flyer templates and adding polish to documents such as our business plan. From then on, we will need you to immerse yourself in the projects and activities that we create and produce materials as the programme develops. Your work will be responsive and varied, calling for a creative eye and the ability to translate data into beautiful, bold and playful visuals.

This could look like attending a Make/Shift taster session and using the stories collected to create a shape and colour palette. It might be attending a strategy meeting to creatively capture the messages discussed so that they can be shared in a way that is playful and accessible. It could be translating community photography projects into visuals for a bus advertisement campaign. This will be a collaborative process where we discuss our needs and ask that you provide creative solutions.

How to apply

Please send an expression of interest that includes:

• An overview of your practice
• How you would approach the role and what you think you can offer to the project
• An indicative breakdown of tasks and a full cost breakdown quoting daily rate and expected days of work required to complete the contract
• Relevant experience and links to examples of your work, where available

Please send your application to hello@wearemakeshift.uk with the subject line Make/Shift Designer in Residence.

If you wish to discuss the brief before applying, please contact Hayley Davis, Marketing and Communications Officer, on h.davis@derby.ac.uk.