art director (freelance)

mooncat was made for the others. the misfits. the dreamers. you. the products we dream up aren’t your basic nail polish. every shade is a work of wearable art. a vessel for self-expression with the power to transport you to another space + time. ready to abandon the ordinary? we’re a band of creative misfits. a collective of unconventional thinkers + strategic risk takers who thrive on ideating + executing innovative ideas that challenge the status quo. our team’s made up of perpetually curious cats. self-starters who enjoy rolling up our sleeves to nimbly execute something awesome together. check us out on mooncat.com or @mooncat on instagram about the role we’re looking for a hands-on, taste-driven freelance art director to lead and elevate our brand’s visual storytelling. you’ll play a key role in bringing our campaigns and content to life, including concepting shoots, leading photoshoots, directing talent, and crafting an emotionally resonant visual identity across channels. this is a hybrid creative/production role: you’re as comfortable moodboarding and styling as you are leading a photographer or directing models on set. you’ll help define the next chapter of our brand’s look and feel—and ensure we show up in a way that’s consistent, premium, and human. what you’ll do direct photographers and models during shoots lead the creative flow on set including styling, lighting direction, framing, and energy for product still life and on model campaigns. ensure content feels premium, cinematic and emotionally grounded (not just transactional or trendy) help shape evergreen marketing content (social, email, website) with a strong eye for storytelling and aesthetic consistency source and partner with creatives to bring concepts to life, ex: photographers, videographers, animators, illustrators. support the creative and marketing team with art direction for launch and evergreen campaigns across photo, video, and design needs. partner with internal teams to build out multi-channel storytelling provide direction to external vendors on content projects lead the visual concepting process for photo and video shoots, from campaign launches to building evergreen brand visual stories. create detailed moodboards, reference decks, and shot lists that align with the brand’s emotional tone translate brand strategy into visual themes and storytelling moments work closely with the creative director to evolve the brand’s visual language collaborate with our brand marketing and product teams to ensure creative supports business goals establish our in-house photo studio alongside photographer, including lighting, equipment, prop sourcing, process design maintain visual standards and consistency across campaigns, platforms, and content types what you bring 4–8 years of experience in art direction, ideally with small, founder-led or craft-driven brands in jewelry, fragrance, fashion, or beauty a strong portfolio that shows you can direct and style both product-focused shoots and model-based/editorial shoots proven ability to highlight products for sellability. you know how to make texture, detail, and finish shine on camera strong understanding of color, lighting, and composition, especially in visually sensitive categories like beauty and packaging confident directing models, photographers, stylists, and set teams to bring an emotional and elevated vision to life resourcefulness: able to create premium, cinematic content with small teams and limited resources comfortable balancing structured campaign work with fast-turn content needs available to be regularly on-site in jersey city/metro nyc bonus experience with motion/video content or directing short-form brand films a personal passion for visual storytelling a strong point of view on how visual details build brand identity and emotional resonance knowledge and understanding of graphic design and design tools culture kindness + empathy adaptability & flexibility–comfort with fast-paced, rapid change mooncat is an equal opportunity employer — we believe being successful is directly tied to creating a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive environment. #J-18808-Ljbffr