Graphic Designer, Sign Shop

Graphic Designer, Sign Shop

Sterling Signs is a locally owned, family-run sign shop in Clarksville. We design, produce, and install custom signage for businesses, contractors, and organizations across Middle Tennessee. Unlike a lot of design jobs, your work doesn't stay on a screen. Sign off on a layout Monday, and it can be hanging on a storefront or riding around town on a vehicle by Friday. If you want to see your design work out in the real world, in your own community, this is about as direct as it gets.

We're looking for a designer to own the front-of-house design seat, working directly with customers to turn ideas into production-ready sign layouts and seeing those designs through to print and production. This is a design-first role. The core of the job is producing clean, professional, print-ready artwork. You'll still talk to customers in person and on the phone as part of the job, but we run orders and job tracking through our shop software, so you're not stuck buried in paperwork and chasing. You're focused on the work you're actually good at.

A Typical Day

On an average day, you'll field 4–5 short phone calls, work through about 5 jobs, and send quotes and proofs on most of them. You're moving between customers and design work all day, not sitting heads-down for hours at a time or stuck answering phones nonstop. This is a steady, varied pace, not a call center and not a design cave.

What You'll Do

Work directly with customers to develop sign layouts that are professional, highly readable, and built to be produced correctly the first time
Design across a range of sign types, including banners, aluminum and panel signs, window and storefront lettering, vehicle graphics, channel letters, and lighted cabinet signs
Prepare proofs, revise artwork, and finalize files for large-format printing and vinyl production
Operate our wide-format printer/plotter to produce jobs
Answer phones and assist walk-in customers
Provide pricing and write up orders through our shop software
Process payments and deposits

What We're Looking For

Strong working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, FlexiSign, or a comparable design/production tool (CorelDRAW experience welcome)
Strong typography, layout, and contrast skills; designs need to read clearly at a glance, not just look good up close
Ability to create (and recreate) clean, professional designs quickly and efficiently
Comfortable and friendly working directly with customers
Organized, and able to manage multiple jobs moving through the shop at once

Preferred, not required:

Experience in a sign shop, print shop, or production design environment
Experience preparing files for large-format or vinyl production

Pay: $22.00 - $27.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40.0 per week

Benefits:

Paid time off

Application Question(s):

Please provide a link to your design portfolio or examples of your work

Work Location: In person