Studio Hand Graphic Artist

Studio Hand / Graphic Artist

Summer 2026 Internship

Job Summary

A Wonderful Time is seeking a Studio Hand / Graphic Artist to design and produce print-ready collateral and small-batch product tests for a new retail concept opening in October 2026 in Montclair, NJ. You will work directly with the founder to turn concept sketches and prototypes into production-ready files—from greeting cards and bumper stickers to ornament tags, shopping bags, and interior and exterior signage.

This role is ideal for someone who wants a hands-on taste in creating art that changes what people buy. You’ll be working directly with and learning from the founder, who is a hands-on creative and have direct access to other working artists via the founder’s brand collaborations. The founder previously co-founded and built Universal Yums—a heavily illustrated, graphic-driven brand that grew to over $300 million in sales; personally art-directing the brand’s visual identity from day one. At A Wonderful Time, we will be testing a new thesis: what can make people have a wonderful time? This internship is a chance to apprentice with someone who has built a household brand through visual storytelling and is now doing it again from scratch.

We’re looking for talent with these skills —

• Adobe Suite Proficiency — You are highly competent in Illustrator, Photoshop, and ideally InDesign. You can build vector files from scratch, convert raster concepts to clean vectors, set up bleed and trim, prepare files for commercial print, and work comfortably across RGB and CMYK workflows. This is non-negotiable.
• AI Tool Fluency — You understand the strengths and limitations of AI tools and can take AI-generated output for lettering treatments, compositions, or renders, refining it into something production-worthy. You will not use AI in place of original thinking and human-generated creativity.
• Digital Competency + Production Mind — You can look at a creative brief or rough hand-drawn concept and bring it to life digitally. You think about physical substrate, scale, color reproduction, and file format as you build your work on a computer.
• Resourceful & Self-Directed — You can receive a brief and start working. You figure things out, come back with options or the right follow-up questions, and manage your own time. 
• Curious About Art, Design & Commerce — You don’t need a retail background, but you should care about what makes something worth purchasing. You have opinions about how things are printed, displayed, and presented—and what makes an experience a wonderful time.

What the job will consist of —

Product Design & Production

• Taking founder-led creative briefs and converting them into print-ready production files (vector and raster) for products including greeting cards, bumper stickers, magnets, ornament tags, and other flat-surface goods.
• Building clean, layered Illustrator and Photoshop files with proper bleed, trim, safe zones, and color profiles for commercial printing.
• Preparing packaging collateral: custom bags, tissue paper, boxes, labels, and product tags.
• Supporting the development of new product concepts as they emerge—adapting designs across formats and substrates as the founder tests new ideas.

Store Collateral & Signage

• Designing and producing all in-store signage: section labels, price cards, informational displays, and wayfinding.
• Producing exterior signage files, coordinating specs with sign fabricators.
• Creating any additional branded collateral needed for the store environment—working to make the in-store shopping experience as unforgettable as possible.

Custom & Ongoing Work

• Executing custom one-off design pieces as needed—event materials, seasonal updates, special edition products.
• Maintaining organized, well-labeled file architecture so all production assets are findable and version-controlled.
• Communicating with print vendors on file specs, proofing, and troubleshooting production issues.

Scope of Work & Pay

• This is a summer internship (approximately 10–12 weeks), in-person, based at our store in Montclair, NJ. Some design work may be done remotely as determined by the founder.
• Compensation is $18–$22/hour depending on experience.
• You will need to demonstrate Adobe proficiency as part of the application process (a short design exercise will be provided).
• Strong performance may lead to a continuing role as the store opens and grows.

Application Instructions

If you are interested in the role, please send your resume and a link to your portfolio (or 3–5 samples of relevant work) to monique@awonderfultime.com. In your email, briefly tell me: what excites you about working at the intersection of AI tools and traditional design production?

About A Wonderful Time

Part gift shop and part art gallery, A Wonderful Time is a new retail concept opening in October 2026 in Montclair, NJ. The store will sell a selection of curated and first-to-market products designed to delight consumers and encourage new communal and familial traditions. The thesis behind the store is that retail can be an artistic medium: not just to sell, but to give people in the community a space to consistently have a wonderful time together. Learn more at awonderfultime.com.