Graphic Designer

Location: Hyderabad, India
Employment: Full Time | In Office
Experience: 2–5 years preferred
Department: Creative & Content
ABOUT ZERO PROTOCOL
At Zero Protocol, we show the world how rebels think.
We bring together entrepreneurs, creators, leaders, thinkers, and extraordinary individuals to explore ideas, experiences, and lessons that deserve to reach millions.
But, having a great conversation is only half the job.
The other half is making people curious enough to discover it.
That’s where you come in.
We’re looking for a graphic designer who understands why people stop scrolling, what makes them click, and how a single image can make someone curious enough to watch a two-hour conversation.
Your work will influence how people discover, experience, and remember Zero Protocol.
WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
YouTube Thumbnails & Content Packaging
You’ll be responsible for designing thumbnails for our long-form podcast episodes, clips, and other YouTube content.
Your responsibilities will include:
• Developing multiple thumbnail concepts for every episode.
• Turning complex conversations into simple, compelling visual stories.
• Identifying strong emotional expressions, moments, and visual narratives from episode footage.
• Creating thumbnails that communicate curiosity, conflict, surprise, authority, or transformation.
• Experimenting with typography, composition, contrast, colours, and visual hierarchy.
• Working closely with researchers, editors, and content strategists to identify the strongest hooks from each conversation.
• Developing alternative thumbnail designs for testing.
• Analysing click-through rates and performance to understand what works and what doesn’t.
• Maintaining a recognisable visual identity while ensuring every episode has its own personality.
The goal is simple. Someone should understand why an episode is worth watching before they even read its title.
Instagram & Short-Form Content Design
You’ll also be responsible for how our content looks across social media.
This includes:
• Designing covers for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and social clips.
• Developing a consistent and recognisable visual language for our short-form content.
• Creating typography-led designs that communicate ideas clearly.
• Designing carousels that turn complex insights into simple, useful, and shareable content.
• Creating quote graphics, episode announcements, guest reveals, and promotional creatives.
• Designing Instagram Stories, countdowns, and launch announcements.
• Adapting designs for different platforms, formats, and screen sizes.
• Collaborating with video editors to ensure the visual packaging accurately represents the content.
We want people to recognise our content even when our logo isn’t visible.
Brand Identity & Visual Systems
We’re not just producing podcast episodes. We’re building a media brand. You’ll play an important role in shaping and maintaining its visual identity.
Your responsibilities will include:
• Maintaining and improving our overall brand identity.
• Developing typography systems, colour hierarchies, layouts, and reusable design templates.
• Creating consistent design principles across YouTube, Instagram, websites, and other digital platforms.
• Designing creative assets for campaigns, collaborations, merchandise, and special projects.
• Developing episode-specific visual identities wherever required.
• Organising and maintaining design files, templates, and brand assets.
• Ensuring that everything we publish meets our creative and quality standards.
The idea is to build a visual identity that remains recognisable as the brand grows.
Creative Research & Concept Development
We don’t want someone who waits for a brief, finishes the design, and moves on. We want the one who thinks about the work even before the brief arrives.
You’ll be expected to:
• Study some of the best-performing YouTube thumbnails and digital media brands in the world.
• Research visual trends across YouTube, Instagram, entertainment, and digital publishing.
• Understand how creators use facial expressions, framing, colour, typography, and curiosity to attract attention.
• Develop mood boards and visual references before major releases.
• Bring original creative ideas to brainstorming sessions.
• Question existing design approaches and suggest improvements.
• Build a reference library of successful designs, experiments, and creative concepts.
We want someone who can bring fresh ideas to the table rather than simply reproduce what’s already popular.
THE SKILLS YOU’LL NEED
Technical & Design Skills
You should be proficient in:
• Adobe Photoshop, including advanced image manipulation, compositing, masking, retouching, and colour correction.
• Adobe Illustrator for vector graphics, typography, and visual assets.
• Figma for layouts, design systems, and collaboration.
• Typography, including font selection, pairing, hierarchy, spacing, and readability.
• Colour theory, contrast, composition, and visual balance.
• Photo manipulation and creative visual storytelling.
• Designing for mobile-first viewing experiences.
• Preparing high-quality assets across different aspect ratios and resolutions.
Experience with After Effects, Blender, Cinema 4D, or other 3D and motion design tools would be an added advantage.
Creative Thinking
You should have a strong understanding of:
• Why some thumbnails get clicked while others are ignored.
• How to create curiosity without misleading the audience.
• How facial expressions communicate emotions.
• How to simplify complicated ideas into one powerful visual.
• How typography influences the way a message is perceived.
• How visual hierarchy directs attention.
• How to create premium-looking designs without unnecessary complexity.
• How to balance creative originality with content performance.
We care about your ability to explain why a design works, not just whether it looks good.
Understanding of Content & Platforms
You should be familiar with:
• YouTube and the creator ecosystem.
• Long-form podcasts and interview formats.
• Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
• Digital storytelling and audience psychology.
• Content packaging and creative experimentation.
• Basic performance metrics such as impressions, click-through rates, reach, and engagement.
You don’t need to be a marketing expert.
But you should understand that good design has a purpose beyond aesthetics.
HOW WE’LL MEASURE YOUR WORK
We care about both the quality of your designs and the impact they create.
Thumbnail Performance
Are our thumbnails improving in terms of click-through rates, taking into account the audience, topic, title, and traffic sources?
Creative Experimentation
Are you consistently exploring meaningful alternatives instead of relying on the same design formula?
Brand Recognition
Are we developing a visual identity that people can recognise across platforms?
Social Media Packaging
Are our covers helping people understand, discover, and recognise our content?
Quality & Execution
Are you delivering thoughtful, high-quality work within agreed timelines?
Collaboration
Are you communicating effectively with researchers, editors, producers, and content strategists?
Originality
Are you bringing new ideas to the team rather than repeating existing templates?
Creative Growth
Are you learning from feedback, audience behaviour, and performance data?
We don’t expect every design to go viral. We expect you to learn, experiment, and improve consistently.
These aren’t mandatory, but we’d love to hear about them if you have experience in:
• Motion graphics and animation.
• AI-assisted image generation and editing.
• Photography and portrait retouching.
• YouTube thumbnail experimentation.
• Entertainment, documentary, or editorial design.
• Art direction for photography and video shoots.
• Website and landing-page design.
• Merchandise and physical brand applications.
• Designing for multilingual audiences.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM US
• An opportunity to design content for a large and highly engaged digital audience.
• Creative ownership over meaningful, high-visibility projects.
• Exposure to extraordinary guests, ideas, and conversations.
• The freedom to experiment, learn, and improve your craft.
• An opportunity to help shape the visual identity of a growing media brand.
• Competitive compensation bas

Work arrangement
No