Y Combinator Visual Designer
Important pre-read:
This job description will take ~15 minutes to read and ~15
minutes to apply. You increase your chances of selection by 10x
if you read this to the end, slowly. Trust us on this.
What is Armory?
What we are building requires hard work, tenacity, ownership,
creativity and way more man-hours than an everyday job.
If you are a savant at what you do, love autonomy, have high
agency and genuinely want to impact the future of this country,
we want you to work with us starting yesterday!
Modern conflicts waged remotely demand a radical rethinking
of strategy as adversaries deploy inexpensive drones and
technology to inflict maximum damage with minimal risk.
If you prefer routine over the dynamic unpredictability of
innovation, Armory isn't for you. Our fast-paced environment
requires genuine curiosity, resilience, a passion for continuous
learning, and comfort with rapid change.
Armory is a new age defence tech startup building
next-generation products to strengthen Indian forces in the
modern battlefields.
About the founder
Amardeep Singh is an IIT Bombay alumnus & an aerospace
engineer by education. He was a founding member of ideaForge -
currently India's biggest drone company & the first drone
company to get listed on the Indian stock exchange.
His 16-year entrepreneurial journey is marked by a series of
ambitious ventures spanning across diverse tech domains like
Drones, Consumer Hardware, B2B SaaS & AI.
Problems we solve
Our country's defence systems, conceived in a bygone era,
have been outpaced by the rapid advancements in technology,
revealing critical gaps that we, at Armory, are poised to bridge.
At Armory, we identify and solve the most critical, complex
& specific challenges in modern warfare. By harnessing the
power of artificial intelligence and diving deep into specific
problems, we create innovative defence technologies and products
that protect our nation and allies.
Why you should NOT join us:
If high stakes, tight deadlines, and significant challenges
don't excite you, then our mission to revolutionise defence
technology might not align with your career goals. We seek
individuals who are ready to push boundaries and are motivated
by the urgency of now.
Why you SHOULD join us:
We offer the opportunity to work on groundbreaking projects
that strengthen national defence, supported by a team of A players.
Join Armory if you're drawn to solving hard problems and want
to create a meaningful & profound impact to the national security.
At Armory, you will do the best work of your life. Period.
Requirements
About this role
As a Visual Designer at Armory, you will play a critical role
in shaping the visual identity of our brand and products. Your
work will be instrumental in communicating complex defense
technology in a way that is visually striking, compelling, and
easy to understand.
- Brand & Visual Identity: Own and evolve Armory's
visual language — logo usage, colour systems, typography,
and layout, ensuring consistency across every touchpoint.
- Print & Collateral: Design print-ready graphics,
brochures, product one-pagers, datasheets, and event
material with a sharp eye for grids, hierarchy, and
pre-press detail.
- Social Media & Digital Creatives: Produce
scroll-stopping creatives for social, web, and campaigns
that carry the brand and communicate product value at a glance.
- Marketing Storytelling: Translate dense technical
concepts into clean infographics, presentations, and visual
narratives that make defense technology easy to grasp.
- Design Systems: Build and maintain templates, type
scales, and asset libraries so the brand stays coherent as
we scale.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with
marketing, product, and engineering to turn briefs into
finished, on-brand output, fast.
- Adobe Suite Mastery: Utilize Photoshop, Illustrator,
InDesign, and other Adobe tools to produce high-quality
design assets across print and digital.
Must haves
- 2+ years of experience in visual design, brand, and
print/graphic design (we're open to both junior and senior
candidates — the bar is talent, not tenure).
- Strong fundamentals in visual design: typography, colour
theory, layout, grid systems, and composition.
- Demonstrated experience designing logos, brand assets, and
cohesive visual identities.
- Hands-on print experience — brochures, collateral, and
print-ready files with correct pre-press handling.
- Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and AI tools (Photoshop,
Illustrator, InDesign; bonus for After Effects/Premiere Pro).
- A portfolio showcasing a range of work, from brand
identity and print to social media creatives.
- Experience in defense, technology, or industrial/product
marketing is a plus.
Bonus points for
- A marketing brain — ideation, campaign thinking, and the
ability to shape a message, not just style it.
- Copywriting chops — you can write a headline as well as you
can set it.
- Experience designing for hardware, FMCG, defense, aerospace,
or high-tech industries.
- Motion and social-first skills — reels, animated posts, or
lightweight motion graphics.
- Comfort with generative and AI-assisted design workflows to
move faster.
- A strong portfolio that makes us go, "Damn, we need
this person on our team."
What will make you successful in this role?
- Deep craft in visual design and brand systems.
- A strong sense of typography, colour, and layout — you sweat
the details.
- Ability to solve communication problems with
first-principles thinking.
- Taking full ownership of your work and ensuring project success.
- Hands-on approach to design, iteration, and shipping.
- A mindset geared towards rapid execution and innovation.
- Getting s**t done.
How will we set you up for success in this role?
- A live project: You will jump straight into a live
project as soon as you join. No dummy or test projects.
- State-of-the-art tools and technologies: You will have
access to industry-leading design software and tools required.
- Access to resources: You name it, we will do everything
to get it for you.
- Supportive team: You will be surrounded by the best
minds ready to help you.
Our Hiring Process
We target to close the hiring process within 14 days of your application.
We target to close the hiring process within 14 days of your application.
Round 1: Screening Application
Duration: At your own pace but if it takes you less than 15
minutes to apply, you are unlikely to move to the next round.
How to ace: Do not copy-paste your answers from a website or
ChatGPT. Be specific in your answers. It's about you.
Codeword: Use KERNING in the application form where it
asks you for Codeword. This way we know you have read the JD :)
Round 2: Introduction round
Duration: 1 hour
How to ace: Be yourself. We want to know YOU, not some ideal,
unrealistic person. Demonstrate your expertise in the area we
are evaluating. Ask good questions.
Round 3: Take-home exercise
Duration: 2-6 hours
How to ace: Show curiosity. Go beyond what you were expected
to do. Come back with more ideas.
Round 4: Culture Fitment
Duration: 1 hour
How to ace: Help us understand your goals & aspirations.
Share some of the stories that have made you what you are. Ask
good questions.
Round 5:
Congratulations! You are now a part of Armory. You will build
something that let's you sleep at night with a feeling you did
something meaningful. Buckle up for a ride into the future.
Work Location
Armory highly values having employees working in-office. We
are establishing a collaborative work environment and company
culture and that simply does not happen from home. We are based
out of Gurgaon and require employees to be in office.
Benefits
What we expect from you
- Genuine curiosity
- Founder's mindset
- First principles thinking
- Execution, not just ideas
- Bias for action
- High energy
- High agency
- Highest level of integrity
- Getting your hands dirty
- Audacious state of mind
What to expect from us
- Team of A players
- Work directly with the founder
- Ridiculous levels of responsibility
- Fast & decisive approach
- Work on hard problems
What your first 3 months at Armory will look like:
30 Days
- Complete onboarding, understand the mission, and meet the team.
- Familiarize yourself with Armory's visual identity and
design principles.
- Review ongoing projects and contribute to small design tasks.
- Set up your workflow with required software and tools.
- Develop an initial concept for a brand asset or marketing creative.
60 Days
- Design a full set of print and social collateral for an
ongoing campaign.
- Contribute to marketing campaigns with brand-led creatives
and layouts.
- Optimize design processes and build reusable templates to
improve output.
- Work closely with marketing and product teams to refine
brand communication.
- Develop initial concepts for an upcoming product launch.
90 Days
- Take ownership of a major visual design project, from
concept to execution.
- Deliver a complete campaign or brochure system end to end.
- Establish visual design guidelines for future Armory projects.
- Identify areas for improvement in brand communication and
propose strategies.
- Collaborate with marketing and product teams to align design
work with broader company goals.
Tips
Irrespective of you applying at Armory or not, some of the
following tips will definitely help you in your job search.
How to get hired
- Targeted Applications: Ensure your application is
tailored specifically for the job you're applying for by
understanding its requirements and showcasing relevant
experiences and skills. Apply for THIS job, not some job.
- Quality Over Quantity: Instead of applying to 100 jobs
casually, it's far better to apply to 4 seriously.
- Stand out: Most people don't put any efforts in applying
to jobs, their applications look exactly the same. It's easy
to stand out from them just by putting a little effort and
showcasing your relevant experience and interest for the
said job.
How to NOT get hired
If your cover letter starts with "Honestly, I possess
all the skills and experience that you're looking
for", then you are not going to make it.
In fact, we wrote a long thread on all the ways you will NOT
get hired. We highly recommend you to read it.
We wish you the best in your job search!