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California Academy of Sciences

Regenerating the natural world through science, learning, & collaboration

Objective

Join the California Academy of Sciences' in-house design team as a full-time graphic designer, contributing to the execution of Academy visuals under the guidance of Creative Director Rhonda Rubinstein. Lead, iterate, or assist in the design and production of digital assets, print materials, wearables, merch, and swag. Assist with image sourcing, retouching, and printing. Contribute to naming exhibits, programs, and events. Utilize emerging AI tools for design and brainstorming. Engage in significant cross-departmental collaboration.

Print: Graphics and materials for the Academy and its exhibits, events, collections, programs, and initiatives—e.g. brochures, invitations, programs, posters, stickers, signs, invitations, ads, and wordmarks.
Signage: Wayfinding signage for events and exhibits.
Digital: Graphics for web, mobile, email, social media, presentations, streaming platforms, and other screen-based formats—e.g. web banners, email headers, online promotions, social media graphics and gifs, information graphics, motion graphics, wordmarks, and icons.
Research: Source images in the Academy’s image libraries and other online resources.
Production: Retouch, resize, and crop images.
Illustration: Create new work and/or modify existing Academy illustrations for digital and print needs.

Approach

The California Academy of Sciences is an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park—and a powerful voice for biodiversity research and exploration, environmental education, and sustainability across the globe. The mission of the California Academy of Sciences is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration.

Maintaining the integrity of the Academy of Sciences' established brand while adhering to its guidelines, I focused on creating designs that are both aligned with the brand's identity and innovative while being purposefully effective. Drawing inspiration from the existing visual language and of recurring annual events and programs, I evolved designs to feel more contemporary and distinctive. The goal being to create better design solutions and overall more engagement, creating a deeper interest and connection with the museum.