Senior Designer

About Us:

RLR Associates, Inc. is an experiential graphic design (EGD) firm celebrating over 30 years in business. We believe design has the power to shape how people experience the places around them. Our work brings together storytelling, strategy, interpretation, and design to create environments where people can gather, learn, reflect, and engage.

We’re especially drawn to projects that have a meaningful connection to their communities and the potential to create lasting impact. We seek out opportunities that challenge us creatively, invite exploration, and allow us to consider what’s possible rather than simply what’s been done before. From identity and wayfinding to exhibits and immersive environments, we approach each project as an opportunity to create something thoughtful, relevant, and uniquely its own.

Our work includes projects such as the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, the Riverside Promenade, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Indianapolis International Airport, and many more.

About the Role:

We’re a small, collaborative studio, and our designers have a high degree of ownership over their work. As an Experiential Graphic Designer, you design more than graphics—you help shape the places and spaces people experience.

From brand identity to wayfinding, environmental graphics, and interpretive exhibits, our designers bring together storytelling, strategy, visual communication, and the built environment to create meaningful experiences. You’ll work from initial concepting and ideation, through to design development, and shift into implementation, considering not only what something looks like, but how it functions within the physical environment and how people will encounter it.

As a Senior Designer, you’ll take an active role in shaping and moving projects from start to finish. You’ll bring creative thinking and sound judgment to your work, collaborate with project leads, clients, consultants, fabricators, and the broader studio team, and help navigate the challenges that come with bringing ambitious ideas to life. You’ll have the opportunity to influence both the work itself and how we work together to deliver it.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to projects from programming and research through conceptual design, design development, documentation, fabrication, installation, and construction administration.
• Develop thoughtful design solutions that respond to project goals, content, context, and the overall visitor experience, with strong conceptual thinking and attention to craft.
• Translate concepts into compelling visual and physical environments through illustrations, elevations, layouts, and other project documentation at appropriate scales.
• Present design concepts clearly and articulate the thinking behind design decisions to clients and project teams.
• Read and interpret architectural plans, specifications, and shop drawings, and apply knowledge of materials, fabrication methods, and construction processes to support design intent through execution.
• Take ownership of projects, using good judgment to determine what needs to happen next, when to ask questions, when to explore, and when to make decisions.
• Coordinate effectively with project leads, designers, clients, consultants, fabricators, vendors, and other stakeholders throughout the life of a project.
• Manage multiple projects and deliverables while maintaining quality, organization, and awareness of scope, schedule, and priorities.
• Anticipate project needs, navigate challenges, and work collaboratively to develop thoughtful, practical solutions.
• Contribute to a collaborative studio environment by sharing ideas, listening to others, communicating openly, and continuing to grow your creative and technical skills

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in graphic design, interior design, architecture, environmental design, or a related field preferred.
• At least 3 years of professional design experience, preferably in experiential graphic design, environmental graphics, branding, architecture, interior design, or a related field.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating design thinking, conceptual development, and quality of execution.
• Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite, particularly Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.
• Familiarity with architectural drawings, materials, fabrication, and the built environment.
• Strong organizational, communication, and time-management skills, with the ability to balance multiple projects and priorities in a collaborative studio environment.
• Curiosity, initiative, and a desire to continue growing as a designer.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Experience with SignAgent, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Slack, Miro, and Google Workspace is a plus.

Our Location:

The studio is located just outside Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, offering on-site parking, nearby to unique local eateries, public transit, easy access to I-65/70, and catty-corner from Starbucks for your caffeine fix.

Benefits:

In addition to being part of a wonderfully creative environment that promotes a healthy work-life balance, full-time positions also include benefits including paid holidays, paid personal time off, health insurance, and professional development assistance. If you are a proactive and adaptable professional with a passion for design and people, we invite you to apply and become part of our dynamic team.