Illustrator for American Mah Jong Tiles

# Illustrator / Vector Designer Needed for Luxury American Mahjong Tile Set We are developing a premium American Mahjong set and are looking for an experienced illustrator/vector artist to create the complete artwork for the tile collection. We already have a well-developed creative direction, including the theme, imagery for each suit, color palette, visual references and AI-generated concept imagery. **We are not looking for someone to develop the concept from scratch.** We need a talented illustrator who can take our established direction, refine it into a cohesive visual system and create beautiful, original, production-ready artwork. ## The aesthetic The collection is inspired by antique hand-painted European ceramic tiles, with influences from Delft tiles and historic Spanish/California ceramic work. We are looking for: * Delicate hand-drawn linework * Antique botanical and natural-history illustration * Small architectural/landscape illustrations * Restrained, sophisticated color * Acrylic will be warm ivory backgrounds * Slightly imperfect, hand-painted character * An old-world, collected, artisanal feeling * Strong consistency across an entire tile collection * Two sets of designs, one more simple ideal for engraved tiles and one with more detail ideal for printed tiles - same design aesthetic The finished product should feel like a luxury collectible object rather than a novelty or souvenir Mahjong set. ## The artwork The complete set will include original designs for: **Bamboo suit** — botanical/grass illustrations with a special illustrated 1 Bam **Dot suit** — repeating natural-history motifs arranged in traditional Mahjong Dot configurations **Character/Crak suit** — small architectural and landscape illustrations **Flower tiles** — eight individual botanical illustrations **Jokers** — a distinctive illustrated local motif **Dragons** — three special illustrated tiles visually connected to the three suits **Winds** — four coordinating directional tiles The artwork must retain the visual conventions necessary for experienced American Mahjong players to identify suits, numbers and special tiles quickly. Beauty cannot come at the expense of playability. We will provide a detailed creative brief and visual concept board showing the intended direction. ## Deliverables We need: * Complete original artwork for the full Mahjong tile collection * Production-ready vector artwork * Adobe Illustrator (.AI) source files * SVG and/or EPS vector exports as needed * Print-ready PDF files * Artwork organized according to the manufacturer's tile specifications/templates * Consistent line weights, colors, scale and visual treatment across the collection * CMYK/Pantone specifications if required by manufacturer * All working/source files upon completion The final artwork needs to be suitable for commercial manufacturing. ## Important This is a commercial product. All artwork must be original and created specifically for this project. Final artwork may not incorporate unlicensed stock illustrations, third-party artwork or other intellectual property. AI-generated images will be provided **only as visual/conceptual references**. We are specifically looking for an illustrator capable of interpreting and improving upon that direction and creating original finished artwork rather than simply tracing AI-generated imagery. Generative AI should not be used to create final artwork without our prior written approval. Full intellectual property rights to the commissioned artwork and all final/source files will transfer to us upon full payment. Confidentiality is required, and the designs may not be publicly shared or included in a portfolio prior to product launch without written permission. ## Who we're looking for Ideally you have experience in some combination of: * Illustration * Adobe Illustrator * Vector illustration * Surface pattern or product design * Packaging/product artwork * Botanical illustration * Architectural illustration * Vintage/antique-inspired illustration * Artwork prepared for physical manufacturing Experience designing Mahjong tiles is helpful but **not required**. Strong illustration ability and an understanding of designing artwork for small-scale physical products are more important. Please include examples of work showing delicate line illustration, botanical/natural-history artwork, architectural illustration, vintage-inspired work and/or vector artwork created for manufactured products. ## When applying Please tell us: 1. Which pieces in your portfolio are most similar to this aesthetic. 2. Whether you personally create the illustrations or work with a team. 3. Your experience preparing vector artwork for manufacturing. 4. Whether you work primarily in Adobe Illustrator. 5. Your estimated timeline for a project of this scope. 6. Your proposed fixed price or estimated total project cost. Please begin your proposal with the word **ACRYLIC** so we know you've read the complete description.