Design Team Application

We are recruiting for our Creative Coterie!
I am looking for creative souls to help promote Third Coast

 Basic team member requirements: 

1. You must like our stamps!  I daresay our collection is among the most eclectic and varied in all the rubber stamp land.  Our motto is “We have something for every taste.”  A team member should enjoy working with a variety of styles of images and themes.  If your tastes are quite limited, and you have trouble finding images you like in our collection, regardless of how talented you are, we probably aren’t a good match for you.  I am looking for designers to create a vast variety of works, not at all limited to any one style, theme, medium or genre.  Third Coast offers a wide variety of images, and our collection is growing in leaps and bounds. I will do my best to learn the styles and tastes of each team member, and try not to require anyone to work with something they truly dislike.  So, even if you only like to create simple greeting cards with watercolors, as long as you can do that with just about any image you might be given, you are welcome to apply.
2. Be able to submit your creations as a digital file, so you need to own either a scanner or a camera.  You may also need to send items in from time to time via regular, "snail mail."
3. Be available online.  Members will need to have reliable, daily access to the Internet, as that is primarily how I will be communicating with you.  Please have this access at home, as I am sure your employer won’t appreciate you taking care of team business on their time.
4. Be prolific.  You must love stamping, experimenting with your art, creating with stamps frequently, and have plenty of tools and  supplies at your disposal.  Third Coast will only be providing you with the unmounted rubber stamps (and EZMount cushion, should you need it) for your projects. 
5. Be un-intimidated.  I hate deadlines and pressure as much as the next person, but I need a team that won’t get overly anxious or frustrated with the structure required when working with deadlines, or assigned themes that might not be your favorite.  I will do my best to minimize stress, but unfortunately a little of that will go with the territory.
6. Be sure you have the time.  While I don’t care at all if you are designing for eight other companies, have two full-time jobs, a demanding spouse and ten children at home -- maybe you really are a super hero and can work for us too!  However, please be sure you have adequate time in your schedule to commit to Third Coast and the team.  I realize unexpected events will arise in your life, and I will certainly be understanding, and make allowances for you when that happens. But, please be honest with yourself about how much time you will have to dedicate to this endeavor before you apply.  If you don’t have the time now, maybe you will at some point in the future.  There will always be more opportunities to join the team, and I expect to rotate and add new members every six months, giving current members a break.
7. Be flexible.  The teams are a work in progress.  Issues will arise that I cannot currently anticipate.  The rules may change as we go along.  You won’t be asked to double your duties.  I won’t dramatically change deadlines.  However, now and then an opportunity arises for Third Coast to participate in something sudden and unexpected.  For example, a magazine editor may contact me and request projects with tight, last minute deadlines.  Although this doesn’t happen often at all, I need people who won’t be thrown off track by such events, and who can come though in a pinch.
8. Be discrete!  Frequently I will be sending you stamps that are brand new, and not yet on the market.  I will always ask that you keep these to yourself for the time being, and not disclose them to others before they hit the virtual shelves.

 Two Types of Team Members: Sample Designers and Painters

 I. Sample Designers

Responsible for creating any of the following types of items:

 Whether you like to do all of the above, or only one type of stamping matters not.  I am most interested in talent, enthusiasm and timely response. 

Specific Responsibilities of Sample Designers:

    Submit a minimum of five samples per month, by specified deadlines. You will be provided with new, unmounted stamps to work with each month at no charge.  The stamps will be yours to keep.  I will send each member several images each month -- both ‘challenge stamps,’ which you won’t get to choose, as well as a few stamps that you have ideas for, which you can choose.  Since we sell only rubber stamps, you will be required to provide all other materials used in your projects.  (If you use the EZMount system, I will provide you with the cushion as well.)  Some of the projects you will be able to keep, as long as you can provide adequate scans or photos.  However, oftentimes I will need to submit the actual piece to a magazine or other third party, and you will need to have items arrive by the indicated deadlines, at your expense.

    Submit a supplies list for each project, and provide detailed instructions on how to complete each project from start to finish.

    Maintain a spreadsheet or other list of the creations you produce for Third Coast.

    Commit to the team for a period of six months.  I will be reviewing the group twice a year.  Members not meeting the requirements at that time will be rotated out.  Or, if you just want or need to get off of the train for a rest, that will be the best time to do it.  Anyone doing a good job will be invited back for another term, space permitting.

 Sample Design Team Benefits:

II. Painters

Members of this team will simply be responsible for helping to color our online world.  I need talented individuals to add color to our stamp images for display on our Web site, ‘blog, NewsPost, and in magazine ads. 

 Painter Responsibilities

     Even though they are called ’painters’, you don’t necessarily have to paint.  Hand-color a minimum of 10 images per month using any non-digital technique.  Watercolor, chalks, colored pencils, markers, you name it.  Images will be sent to you digitally, rather than the actual stamps.  So, you need to be able to print these images to the medium of your choice for coloring. Submit your colored wonders via scan, or hard-copy if you do not have a scanner.  Unfortunately, you will not have much choice in which images you are assigned to color.  As I won’t need 20 colored versions of the same popular images, members will be asked to color some of our more obscure stamps.  You will need to be satisfied with that lack of choice and control.  It’s best if you have varied tastes and enjoy many types of images.

Painter Team Benefits

Ready to go?  Apply here!

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Site last updated May 1, 2012

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