ACOSTE: Freelance Graphics Designer

Client: ACOSTE

Location: Remote

Contract: Contractor

ACOSTE represents all Project Controls professionals.

We believe that Project Controls is a shared behavior and mindset among every individual who works on a project. By building relationships with academic and industry partners, we empower professionals in the Project Controls community to learn, develop and connect.

Job Description:

Contract Remote Position: Freelance Graphics Designer

We are seeking the expertise of a skilled graphic designer to provide flexible freelance work for two broad priorities:

• Our upcoming conference scheduled for May 1st and 2nd, 2024, in Manchester, UK
• Develop some core, flexible social media graphics which we can use within our general marketing outside of the conference

Workstream 1: Conference

Our ACOSTE Conference 2024 title is “Controls and Skills for You, Your Work and the World”. This theme splits into three fundamental pillars:

• Controls and Skills for You – Regardless of where you stand in your professional journey, self-awareness is key. Understanding your abilities, strengths, vulnerabilities, and blind spots is crucial, and we are committed to assisting you in learning and reflecting.
• Controls and Skills for Your Work – Your interactions in the workplace and the skills needed to be a facilitator, a catalyst for change, and a positive influence in decision-making contribute to the success of our projects. Our mission is to foster true diversity in teams.
• Controls and Skills for Your World – The impact you have on your surroundings and our ability to leverage exciting and innovative changes in our industry contribute to our social and environmental responsibility. We aim to leave a better world for future generations.

Target Audience: Apprentices, graduates and early-mid career professionals. We also have a level of more experienced members who also expect to gain value from this event alongside our conference partner organisations.

The selected graphic designer will act as Promotional lead from 08/01/2024 to post event 30/05/24, responsible for designing various conference materials, including but not limited to:

• Floor Plan of venue with stand positions
• Website and Social Media Advertisements
• Conference marketing (theme and other related graphics)
• Partners marketing (logos and announcements)
• Speaker marketing (headshots and announcements)
• Speaker slide template with appropriate branding and graphics guidance
• Follow-up process of slide reviews (on receipt from speakers) to check for consistency and clarity
• Virtual Conference Brochure
• Small scale Agenda & Delegate Name-badge (one singular item serving dual purpose)
• Conference display items (exact detail TBC but will include digital displays at venue) to include all of the partner logos

To aid with this work scope, there is a ready-produced design handbook with layouts, color palette, and typography to align with our new brand. It is expected that images of central Manchester can be selected from license-free online downloads.

Workstream 2: General ACOSTE Marketing

We represent all professionals who have an interest in Project Controls related topics (Planning, Cost, Estimating, Risk, Quality, Forecasting, Commercial etc.), and we want our brand to appeal to a broad range of professionals from diverse backgrounds. We need to grow our younger membership as part of our growth strategy, and as such are looking to our marketing materials to aid in this appeal.

We have recently gone through a rebranding process, but we need to complete the transformation with appropriate social media and marketing imagery which complements our new branding. The ACOSTE brand guidance will be provided with full guidance on a color palette, typography, and layouts.

• Website and Social Media Advertisements
• Social Media Templates (to build a template library for future use)
• Additional Graphics as required

Points of note:

• Microsoft Teams will be the primary source of communication
• Guest access will be provided to the successful candidate to our Microsoft environment - the candidate must have access to the relevant apps as licenses will not be provided
• It is assumed that the candidate has access to the relevant software they need to complete the scope of work
• We will be providing our partner organizations and speakers with the following key dates for their submissions:
• 31st January 2024 – Topic and Abstract for speakers (from here the slide template will be distributed to the speakers chosen for the event)
• 5th April 2024 – Deadline for speaker slides
• Individual partner organizations will have their timelines for marketing submissions agreed individually, and these will be clearly communicated to all
• It is expected that the candidate will outline their own constraints and timeline for unveiling graphics and illustrations related to the theme. Clear communication on turnaround time for each phase of the project is also essential

Qualifications

• Experience working as a Freelance Graphics Designer
• Expertise in Adobe Creative Cloud, Sketch, or other design software (must have own access to these tools)
• Demonstrated creativity and knowledge of design principles and techniques
• Experience with branding, typography, color, and layout
• Excellent time management and organization skills
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to present and explain design ideas to colleagues
• Experience with web and UI/UX design is a plus

Submission Requirements

The timelines for this tender are as follows:

• Deadline for tender submissions: Friday 8th December 2023
• Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to a brief 30-minute call week commencing 11th December 2023
• Final Decision and Contract Award: No later than Friday 15h December 2023
• Contract Start Date: 8th January 2024

In your response, please provide the following:

• Short statement on your experience and skillset and how you will approach this work
• Portfolio showcasing relevant previous work
• Preliminary ideas for conference design and broader brand design for social media
• Overall cost for the scope of work outlined
• Any caveats, assumptions, limitations, or dependencies
• A per-item or per-hour cost for additional work outside of this scope of work, alongside notice periods, review periods, and acceptance periods you wish to stipulate (if applicable)

Interested parties are invited to submit their tender by 17:00 Friday 8th December 2023. ACOSTE looks forward to partnering with a creative and collaborative professional, and on successful completion of this contract may be offered follow-on work / preferred partner status for future graphics design work with us.