This is a long post. And I'm writing it for a single person. Is it you?
Nearly seven years ago to the day, my wife and I moved to Illinois from Michigan. Like many creatives, owning a design consultancy was an idea I’d often entertained, so about a year and a half into having taken this plunge, things were progressing well. But...(skidmarks)...to make a long story short, and due to a variety of factors and serendipitous relationships and circumstances, I was given the opportunity to help build a similar consultancy within the framework of a major Christian Publisher called Tyndale House Publishers. The exact story of how all this happened would require an entirely separate post.
Much has happened in 7 years at Tyndale, and it's been an interesting and fulfilling ride. To give you some background, the final project I did transitioning from my consultancy to my current full time gig was what's often referred to as a "chick calendar" — you know — a beauty calendar meant to help a Rock-n-Roll radio station make money. By many standards the calendar was a designer's dream. A client who wanted to push design to it's visual limits, and the opportunity to work with one of the best shooters in the country. Literally. But you see, even before this calendar, it was becoming very apparent to my wife and I how my skills were going to waste. I was spending night and day with the sole focus of helping promote commerce (not that turning a profit is useless or sinful, rather, my work felt empty). Without significance. Some of you might understand the feeling. So I share my story with you not to pass judgment, rather, to share with you how I felt God's leading in my life, and how using my talents for His work has been a life changing venture, or should I say adventure.
It is with gratitude and deep prayer that I have considered how best to share this, mainly because I've worked very hard for over 2 years on BarryBlog to post about personal issues, separating as possible my personal voice and opinions from my work responsibilities as a Senior Art Director. But in this case it's a bit difficult to separate the two. So I post this today with the hope that someone, just that special someone, may also be feeling led by the Holy Spirit, to break free and follow the call of God.
You see, Tyndale's Commercial Design team has an opening.
We're looking for a thinker—someone who loves to communicate with pictures and words. A communication designer with a marketing communication design background. Someone as adept at strategic thinking as design execution, with the desire and ability to add to a small team, and collaborate with internal marketing clients. Someone with a servant heart, and someone who brings a voice. It's an agency-pace position that requires swift and thoughtful work, and the day to day is never boring. Responsibilities might include client meetings, brainstorming, strategic and creative development, design presentations, design execution, research, growing your colleagues and learning from others, plus a ton more.
Our team is small by design. Consequently, we’re focused on finding the needle in the haystack. Someone whose work will blow us away, especially as we consider why we are called to work in the first place. We use the term “senior” in terms of the level of work and the ability to foster strong relationships with internal clients and fellow colleagues.
In a feeble attempt to avoid displaying bias (if that's possible considering how totally sold out I am to our companies' mission), I will state that Tyndale is an incredibly special company. God's work is being done all over the place. In us. Through us. Despite us. But it is really tangible. You can feel it. And at times see it. The company actually cares about their employees. They invest in us, and us in them. Kinda simple really, and a bit old fashioned. Which in this ever changing and at times superficial world is rather refreshing in my estimation. And that's not all. Not only are our skills being employed to glorify God, Tyndale’s Book design and Commercial design team are second to none. I’m uniquely qualified to say this as you consider the wide variety of previous professional experiences I bring to Tyndale, and to this discussion. It is truly one of the strongest creative teams I have ever had the chance to serve with.
So is it you we're looking for? Maybe someone you know? If so, I recommend two things. Number one, do not contact me personally. I tried this approach early on, then I realized how disrespectful this is to the process. We have a structured and measured method of bringing people on board, so if you are interested and are deemed qualified to move forward by those whose job it is to make this determination, you will eventually meet me. Second, you can follow this link. If you get tripped up in any way or need answers, simply call our front desk and ask for our Human Resource department.
So I hope you feel it is of no coincidence that you are reading this. I promise you that if you join our team, I (and our entire team) will invest heavily into you. We will make you a stronger communication designer. And your contributions will matter like never before. We will support you like mad, and do everything we can to see you succeed. And to grow our company. I can say this because I have been on the receiving end, and like I said before, Tyndale is a special company.
Speaking for our entire Design team (without permission in this case), we look forward to meeting you and growing with you. May God bless you and give you the peace and strength to step out in faith and answer this call.
Labels: book design, Commercial Design Team, Faith, Personal Proefessional, Senior Designer, Trusting God, Tyndale House Publishers
