The Massachusetts Review seeks a production designer who will manage page and cover design using both existing templates and new design; layout; typesetting; and general production handling of four print issues per year. We seek someone who can also do occasional collateral material design, such as posters for events, digital layout for e-books (approximately 1-2 per year), and poetry broadsides (1 per year).
Qualified candidates will have at least five years’ experience in:
· Print book and/or magazine design and layout, specifically offset and digital print production
· Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat
· Experience working with other staff members and an Art Director who will make content decisions
· Facility with both text paper stock design and art portfolio paper stock within the same issue
The ideal candidate will be comfortable working with the copyeditor to deliver designed pages for correction, and with office staff to confirm that all corrections have been made before shipping files to the printer. Ideally, a candidate will live in the western Massachusetts area, to enable access to both the printer and the MR office as needed, though we invite candidates from around the country.
This position is a freelance position and does not offer benefits. We do offer a competitive fee per issue and for collateral production materials. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until February 13, 2026. Interviews will commence immediately and continue until position is filled. Please send a cover letter, resume, and at least two references to massrev@external.umass.edu and indicate PRODUCTION JOB in the Subject line.
Founded in 1959 by a group of professors from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst College, Mount Holyoke, and Smith, the MassachusettsReview is one of the nation’s leading literary magazines, distinctive in joining the highest level of artistic concern with pressing public issues. A 200-page quarterly of fiction, poetry, essays, and the visual arts by both emerging talents and established authors, special issues have covered women’s rights, civil rights, climate, disability justice, and Indigenous, Asian American, and Latin American literatures. More information about the magazine can be found at https://massreview.org/
