Craft x Area 17

A lot of junior hiring happens one role at a time. Area 17 are doing it differently: they are a team on a mission.

We’ve been working exclusively with the global brand, experience and technology studio to find a cohort of three junior creatives for their New York studio; an Associate Brand Strategist, an Associate Brand Designer and an Associate Experience Designer – all joining on the same day, into a 12-week structured training programme built specifically for them.

It’s an impressively considered approach to bringing new people into a business, and it’s rare. There’s a lot of conversation about emerging talent in the industry at the moment. This is what it looks like when a studio does it really, really well.

Hiring three people to start together rather than staggering them across the year makes onboarding more efficient, but the bigger benefit is less obvious: it creates a natural sense of teamship from day one. Nobody is the only new person in the room. We’ve done the same thing at Craft, and it works well for all parties.

The second is the training plan. Twelve weeks of structured learning, training and onboarding (yes, those are three different things). We’ve not come across a more thoughtful programme for junior talent anywhere in the industry. For the three people who join, it will be a significant head start for their careers.

The brief itself has been just as open-minded. Area 17 have been clear from the outset that they’re looking for people engaged in culture, interested in design, and bringing positive momentum – regardless of background or route in. What matters is where you’re heading.

Area 17 is a global brand, experience, and technology studio based in Paris and New York. The agency turns down more work than it takes on, and most of what survives that filter sits in arts and culture, health, and public good: organisations trying to do something real in the world, not just look the part.

That’s the kind of work that keeps people at the top of their game, staying for years, and it’s what these opportunities will lead to.

Trust comes early. Junior team members present to clients and leadership within months of joining. You’re given the space to have opinions outside your discipline, and to hear them from people outside yours too.

While the work speaks for itself, so does the culture. The team is ambitious and positive, and standards are held high.

The deadline for applications is Monday 31st August.