Apparel and Merch Designers: Creating Event Swag and Illustrations

We're running a paid study on the end-to-end process of designing custom apparel and event swag. We want to understand how creative professionals translate rough concepts into polished, print-ready artwork for physical merchandise. This work feeds directly into our upcoming community events and brand initiatives, helping us evaluate different stylistic approaches to physical goods.

You will participate in a series of asynchronous design tasks and follow-up discussions over a continuous period. We will provide creative briefs for t-shirts, hoodies, and sticker concepts for you to review and interpret. You will then develop initial concept sketches and refine them into finalized, print-ready vector illustrations. Throughout the process, you will walk us through your creative decisions and technical workflow for preparing files for print production.

We are looking for experienced graphic designers and illustrators who specialize in apparel and physical merchandise. We welcome freelance illustrators, in-house apparel designers, merchandise creators, and visual designers with strong vector graphic skills. Candidates must have a proven track record of taking a design from a rough sketch to a print-ready manufacturing file.

• Develop concept sketches for event apparel and stickers based on written briefs.
• Create high-quality vector illustrations suitable for printing on t-shirts and hoodies.
• Prepare and deliver print-ready files optimized for merchandise manufacturing.
• Walk us through your creative workflow and technical setup for producing physical swag.

• Professional experience in graphic design, illustration, or apparel design
• Strong proficiency in creating vector graphics for print production
• Familiarity with preparing files for t-shirts, hoodies, and sticker manufacturing
• Comfortable discussing your creative process and design decisions in a professional setting

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote opportunity that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Opportunities can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your participation will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are processed weekly based on services rendered.
• We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.