Image Studio Director
Role Overview
The Image Studio Director leads Assouline’s Image & Creative Studio, a central function within the Maison’s future Brand System. This role is both a visual leadership role and an operating role. It is responsible for codifying, protecting and evolving Assouline’s visual standards in close alignment with the Founders and VP Brand, while building the studio system required to deliver those standards consistently across brand-facing touchpoints: campaigns, product launches, collaborations, retail environments, wholesale tools, e-commerce, social platforms, editorial formats, events, partnerships and Maison moments. The Image Studio Director acts as the central owner of brand image direction, creative asset development, production standards, studio workflow and creative resource planning. The role must raise the creative standard without creating unnecessary bottlenecks, ensuring that visual excellence, speed of execution and team sustainability can work together. The role should protect Assouline’s codes while leaving room for cultural tension, surprise and unexpected creative expressions - a key dimension of the Maison’s ability to open new perspectives rather than simply repeat established formulas.
PLEASE PROVIDE A PORTFOLIO WITH YOUR CV.
Key Responsibilities
Image Direction & Visual Standards
- Codify, maintain and evolve Assouline’s visual standards across brand, product, retail, wholesale, event, digital, social, editorial and partnership touchpoints.
- Translate the Founders’ creative, editorial and cultural vision into actionable visual principles, guidelines and execution standards.
- Ensure consistency across photography, art direction, typography, layout, motion, video, digital design, print applications, retail assets and event materials.
- Protect Assouline’s visual identity while ensuring the Maison continues to evolve, surprise and open new perspectives through image, composition, storytelling and cultural references.
- Define what “Assouline level” means across different formats, project tiers and channels.
- Studio Leadership & Creative Workflow
- Lead the Image & Creative Studio team across design, motion, production and coordination.
- Establish the studio as the internal center of excellence for brand image development, creative asset creation and visual execution.
- Implement clear intake, briefing, planning, review and delivery processes for creative requests.
- Ensure the studio is involved early enough in priority projects to shape visual ambition, not simply respond to downstream asset needs.
- Prioritize workload across internal teams and external creative partners, reducing duplication, late-stage pressure and fragmented feedback.
- Mentor and develop the team, raising creative judgment, executional discipline and cross-functional collaboration.
- Build a studio culture defined by high standards, clarity, accountability and calm execution under pressure.
Brand Asset Strategy & Creative Development
- Define image strategy and asset needs for priority launches, campaigns, Maison moments, collaborations, events and special projects.
- Translate strategic briefs into visual territories, moodboards, shoot intentions, layout directions, asset families and production needs.
- Ensure major projects are supported by coherent asset ecosystems across hero visuals, social formats, e-commerce assets, press materials, event visuals, retail / trade tools and motion assets.
- Determine when existing book or editorial assets can be leveraged, adapted or extended for Brand purposes, and when new brand-specific assets need to be created.
- Ensure priority projects are not only visually consistent, but also capable of introducing a distinctive point of view, cultural tension or unexpected angle that reinforces Assouline’s role as a Maison that expands imagination.
- Challenge briefs when the requested execution does not match the level of ambition, audience, format or Maison standard required.
Production Oversight, Photography & Image Rights
- Oversee brand-facing creative production in partnership with the Image Production Manager, ensuring shoots and content productions are planned with the right level of ambition, timing, budget and executional clarity.
- Supervise shoot briefs, production timelines, shot lists, contributor briefs, post-production workflows and delivery plans.
- Manage or oversee relationships with external photographers, videographers, art directors, set designers, retouchers, motion specialists, production partners and agencies.
- Clarify interfaces with existing photography and book production teams, particularly around asset repurposing, shared resources, shoot planning and handovers.
- Ensure image rights, usage terms, credits, licensing windows and asset availability are properly considered for brand, marketing, communications, e-commerce, retail, wholesale and editorial uses.
- Ensure final image selection, retouching, layout and adaptation meet Assouline’s standards.
Budget, Resources & Team Management
- Oversee Image Studio resource planning, ensuring creative capacity is aligned with Maison priorities, project tiers and the Brand calendar.
- Partner with the VP Brand and relevant stakeholders to define production budgets, creative investment levels and external partner needs for priority projects.
- Track and manage image-related production costs, ensuring budgets are aligned with the ambition, visibility and strategic importance of each project.
- Identify resource gaps, bottlenecks and trade-offs early, and recommend the right balance between internal capabilities and external expertise.
- Build and maintain a strong external creative partner network across photography, art direction, video, styling, retouching, motion and production.
- Ensure the studio operates with the right balance of creative excellence, operational discipline and team sustainability.
Governance & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Clarify roles and responsibilities between Image Studio, Marketing, Communications, Events, Digital Brand, Commercial teams, existing photography teams and external creative partners.
- Establish clear review moments for major projects, including concept validation, asset plan validation, pre-production approval, image selection and final delivery.
- Partner with 360 Marketing, Communications, Events & Experiences and Digital Brand & Innovations to ensure image needs are anticipated and integrated into each project from the start.
- Partner with Retail, Wholesale, E-commerce and Partnerships when commercial channels require brand-facing image assets, while protecting quality and avoiding fragmented requests.
- Reduce unnecessary escalation by defining what the Image Studio can own, what requires VP Brand validation, and what requires Founders / President input.
- Contribute to post-project reviews, identifying what worked, what created friction, and what should be codified for future projects.
Key Deliverables
- Assouline image standards and visual guidelines
- Creative briefing framework for Image Studio requests
- Brand asset planning templates by project tier and touchpoint
- Shoot brief and production brief templates
- Image and asset toolkits for major launches and Maison moments
- Production tracking and post-production workflows
- Image rights and usage governance principles for Brand assets
- External creative partner roster
- Post-project image and production learnings
- Contribution to the Master Brand Calendar and A+ / A / B / C project model
Profile & Experience
- 10+ years of experience in image direction, creative studio leadership, art direction, brand design, campaign development or creative production.
- Experience in luxury, fashion, publishing, design, art, hospitality, architecture, culture or premium lifestyle brands strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to lead high-quality creative output across campaigns, digital, social, print, retail, event, editorial and commercial assets.
- Strong visual culture and refined aesthetic judgment, with a deep understanding of photography, typography, layout, motion, composition, materiality and storytelling.
- Experience translating high-level creative direction into concrete briefs, visual systems, asset families and production plans.
- Strong understanding of luxury image standards and the expectations of culturally sophisticated audiences.
- Proven ability to manage creative workflows, production timelines, budgets, external contributors and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of photography production, image usage rights, licensing principles and asset governance.
- Strong leadership and team management skills, with the ability to raise creative standards while maintaining operational clarity.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented and able to manage multiple projects across different levels of priority.
- Strong interest in books, culture, interiors, architecture, art, fashion, travel, design, hospitality and the world of collectors.
You will thrive in this role if you are:
- A strong visual thinker with a refined cultural eye.
- A structured creative leader who can bring clarity to complex workflows.
- Comfortable working with Founders, senior leadership and creative contributors.
- Able to protect a Maison’s creative standards while enabling teams to move faster and with more autonomy.
- Highly sensitive to image, storytelling, design, editorial culture and luxury codes.
- Comfortable challenging briefs when needed, while remaining collaborative and solution oriented.
- Able to distinguish between projects that require exceptional creative ambition and projects that require efficient, elegant execution.
- Motivated by the opportunity to build a new internal studio function from the ground up.