Brand Designer →

Contract to start, with opportunity for full-time New York or Remote (EST preferred) We are hiring a brand designer to lead visual identity, brand systems, and design direction for early-stage companies. At Little Plains, brand design does not stop at assets or guidelines. It lives in systems that show up across products, websites, and real-world use. Design is how strategy becomes visible, usable, and scalable. You contribute at a high level individually and help define how modern brand systems are designed and built. Why This Role Exists Founders are asked to move faster, spend more efficiently, and still deliver work that feels considered, credible, and differentiated. The old tradeoffs between speed, quality, and cost no longer hold, but meeting this moment requires a different way of designing. Brand design is the work of designing systems that carry intent forward as companies grow, teams change, and products evolve. One thing that sets this work apart: we deliver brand systems in both human-facing formats and agent-readable ones. The systems we build have to work for a person and for a machine. That is a newer design problem, and it is one we are actively working through. The tools are faster now. Deciding what a brand needs to look like and why still takes someone with a point of view. About Little Plains Little Plains is a modern brand and product studio. We work primarily with early-stage companies, often from pre-launch through Series A, at moments where clarity, speed, and conviction matter most. Our partners are founders and small senior teams building new products, categories, and narratives under real constraints. We operate as an embedded creative partner rather than a traditional digital agency, building brand, product, and go-to-market work into cohesive systems that can scale as companies grow. Our work spans healthcare, biotech, SaaS, and consumer products. What You Will Do Day to day, you will: Lead brand design on your projects end to end Create brand worlds from strategy through visual systems, not just surface-level identities Define brand DNA: typography, color, layout, motion, and structure that produces consistent yet flexible expression Design systems that translate across websites, products, content, and real-world use Think in systems, not just outputs Use AI tools to accelerate visual exploration and concept development without outsourcing the design decisions that require judgment Explore widely and quickly, then make clear, confident design decisions Work closely with strategy to align narrative and visual systems Collaborate with developers to ensure systems hold up in real builds Translate high-quality, hands-on design work into systems that scale over time How We Work Design is developed in context, alongside strategy, product, and interaction decisions. Work is shared through live artifacts and evolving systems, not static presentations. AI is part of how we work. We care more about the judgment you bring to it than the tools you are using. The Bar for Craft This role requires strong visual judgment, typographic rigor, and the confidence to make decisions. Systems should feel intentional, durable, and considered, not trendy or over-engineered. What We're Looking For Demonstrated ability to build brand systems, not just logos or assets Strong instincts for typography, layout, and visual structure Can zoom in and zoom out: craft-level attention to detail while holding the macro vision Range: break the formula in exploration, then bring rigor and organization in production (workflows, files, handoff) Able to iterate, curate, and move quickly in sprint cadences Fluent in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite (motion and art direction experience is a plus) Excited to work in AI-informed workflows (e.g. Flora, Weavy, MidJourney, Claude, Paper) without outsourcing taste or judgment Comfort working across strategy, design, and systems Experience working with early-stage or high-growth companies 3–5 years of experience in brand design or related roles Curiosity about new tools paired with deep traditional craft Ability to take responsibility and move work forward Benefits (Full-Time) Quarterly profit share tied to studio performance Equity participation for long-term team members Medical, dental, and vision insurance (50% employer-covered) 15 days PTO (Year 1, increases by 2 days/year) Parental leave: 12 weeks (birth parent), 6 weeks (non-birth parent) at full pay Prenatal leave: 20 hours paid per year $1,000/year craft and tools stipend $200/month coworking stipend What to Submit Resume or LinkedIn profile Portfolio showing brand systems across applications A short note on the kinds of brand problems you want to work on next If you want to design serious brand systems, building identities that scale, evolve, and actually get used, let's talk. Equal Opportunity & Fair Chance Little Plains is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, including the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws. In accordance with the NYC Fair Chance Act, we consider applicants with criminal histories. Any background check will occur only after a conditional offer of employment has been made. We appreciate your consideration. We will do our best to view every submission carefully, and in a timely manner. Please allow a few business days for us to get back to your submission, and we look forward to hopefully talking more. Cheers, Little Plains #J-18808-Ljbffr