Head of Design

The Head of Design Role

The garden3d Head of Design has one mandate: nothing we put on the internet falls below an 8 out of 10. We are a house of brands - Sanctuary Computer (development), XXIX (design), Index Space (community), USB Club (digital community), and the garden3d umbrella itself - and all of them ship work into the world under our name. Working in close partnership with our founder & president Hugh Francis, this person sets the craft standard, and builds the culture that holds it.

You can be based anywhere. A lot of our people are in New York and there's some gravity here, but we already work across timezones and we would happily hire in Europe, Singapore, Chicago, or wherever you are. If you're the right person, we want to hear from you.

This role works with studio leads, designers, developers, editors, animators, photographers and clients across every garden3d vertical.

This person can move between a brand identity, a product interface, a case study and a launch film in the same week, and raise the bar on each of them.

They span all of garden3d, but their home base is XXIX. Our design studio is where the standard gets set, and where it either holds or slips, so this person runs critique there. Regular reviews. Honest and specific feedback. A shared language for why one thing is better than another, and what practically to do about it. Then they carry that same bar everywhere: to Sanctuary Computer's product and web work, to Index, to new USB Club product launches, to garden3d TK and everything we publish.

They are also how we get better people. Our work is only as good as the designers making it, so this person hunts for exceptional talent, sells them on us, and sets them up to do the best work of their careers. The ideal candidate looks at a worker-owned collective with four studios, an open P&L and clients like Google, Figma and The Nobel Prize, and sees a design practice they can propel among the best in the world.

Responsibilities & Mandates

Quality never less than 8/10 A critique culture at XXIX Hiring and empowering the very best Client craft, at blue-chip standard New design business, and the projects that matter most Type and editorial design Case study production Websites that put our best foot forward Presence IRL Culture

Special Projects Building XXIX's critique practice into something other studios try to copy Landing the kind of flagship design engagement that changes what people think we do Hiring the next generation of the design team, across every garden3d studio Rebuilding our studio websites so each one sells its studio

Plus, our partner organizations

https://www.thelightphone.com/ https://www.mill.com/ https://www.ingredient-ai.com/

XXIX — Design

When we started XXIX in 2013, we set out to create a different kind of design studio and we’ve thrived because we continually ask what a creative practice can be.

We’re building a radically different kind of organization that values autonomy, growth, transparency, and shared responsibility.

Index Space — Community

A network of physical spaces all around the world, Index provides space for the exchange of knowledge and tools.

We nurture trust within the creative community through generosity and abundance of ideas and care.

garden3d TK — Media

At garden3d, we’re in the early stages of building an experimental media company exploring emerging themes related to the evolving landscape of technology, design and culture.

We aim to monetize this outlet, publish books, produce screenplays, and release music.