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CAREER FEAT URE
Every junior designer dreams of becoming an art director, but what
do they actually do? Three leadin g art directors explain what the role
entails and offer tips on how to become one.
Bra nding the Manchester
Food and Drink F estival
/branding/branding-manchester-food-and-drink-festival-2012-11121179)
How to become an art director>50
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7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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'Art director' is an impressive job title that a lot of people yearn for, but
can mean different things in different organisations.
The job of art director exists in a number of creative fields, including
advertising, marketing, publishing, film and television, web design, and
video games.It generally involves managing a team of designers working
on a creative project, but the degree of responsibility and autonomy canvary.
We asked three leading art directors to share their thoughts and
experiences on the role. Read on to find out what they think about what
the job title means, what it requires in practice, and what qualities
employers look for in an aspiring art director...
James Fenton
Looking for a job in design? Check out our jobs board
(http://jobs.creativebloq.com/)!
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To begin to understand what is expected of an art director, it's first
worth considering the term as both a role within a team, as well as acreative discipline in itself.
As an art director you must be a leader, someone who inspires and
guides the vision of the design team. However, someone who sees
themselves as the design top dog will inevitably be heading for a
embarrassing fall. You have to be able to recognise the talent in those
around you and learn how best to get the best from you. An art director
who sees themselves in a position of hierarchical authority is simply a
glorified manager.
Sure, there are aspects of management in the role. You need to be able
to critique peoples work, hit deadlines, stay within the budget, and
sadly on occasion have to discipline people for too many fag breaks or
simply producing lazy design. But first and foremost you need to inspire,
guide and mentor those they lead.
The role of the art director could be compared to that of a chef, fusing
together ingredients to produce a menu of delightful dishes. All
designers inject their individual personalities, tastes and style into their
work. Even working within the constraints of brand guidelines, there is
plenty of room for creativity and originality. It is the art directors role
to identify and understand the different flavours each member brings to
the team, an then carefully infuse them to compliment one another and
ultimately creating an exciting and balanced sensory experience.
James Fenton is a designer and art director based in the UK. He is the
founder of Blimp Creative (http://blimpcreative.co.uk/), a collective of
professional creatives specialising in digital design and copywriting
across web and mobile.
Inspire and mentor>
Storyteller>
http://blimpcreative.co.uk/ -
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Yet it is vital to understand art direction not simply as a v isual
experience. The fundamental role of art direction is to direct and guide
an audience through the information being presented to them.
An art director must appreciate the written content as much as visual,
taking on the role of a storyteller, marrying together words and
imagery, creating structure and order through layout and typography,providing weight and emphasis which conveys message and meaning,
resulting in the ease of the audiences understanding. You must be a
mediator between writers and designers, understanding both disciplines
and working closely with each.
For me, a good art director has to be open to influence, inspiration and
the expertise of the people around them, appreciating their talents,
strengths and weaknesses, whilst maintaining a clear vision of delivering
a message that speaks directly to the reader, viewer or user.
There is no single formula for what makes a good art Director: its not a
discipline taught in design schools, there are no books or guides that
define the steps to success. Every art director will have forged their own
path, have their own definition of what their role is and their own
approach to getting the job done and done well. Sometimes this may be
learned from their own mentors and passed down in a
master/apprentice way, whilst others may formulate their process
utterly independently, through their personal experience, trial and
error.
Jenny Theolin
Open-minded
>
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7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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What is an art director? It sounds like a simple question, but having to
define somebodys job role in one or two words is surprisingly difficult.
Designer, art director, creative director - all these titles are necessary to
create a structure within agency departments, for the clients benefit,
and for the recruitment process. And to add to the confusion,
descriptions like 'Web Ninja', 'Pixel Guru' and 'Creative Wizard' infiltrate
our world as well. But how relevant is all of this to the job we do?
Jenny Theolin (https://twitter.com/JennyTheolin) has performed a
series of art director and senior art director roles and is currently
creative director of Soapbox & Sons
(http://www.soapboxandsons.com/). A Swede based in London, she
is also a contributor to the web magazine Typetoken
(http://www.typetoken.net/) and an avid blogger
(http://www.jennytheolin.com/).
http://www.jennytheolin.com/http://www.typetoken.net/http://www.soapboxandsons.com/https://twitter.com/JennyTheolin -
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In many companies the traditional team structure has evolved into
paired creative polymaths. Ask any creative team working today, and
you will see that they share a lot of their work tasks. Copywriters
scamp, art directors write. I write contributions to blogs, books and
magazines, so does this make me any less an art director?.
Working across branding, design and advertising, I've experienced most
types of agencies, from huge conglomerates like Interbrand, to the
smaller and friendlier creative agencies, like muirhoward, where I am
currently spending my days cooking up all sorts of creative concoctions.
Here I generate and develop ideas for ads and campaigns, work
alongside the creative director to ensure that creative strategy is
innovative, motivating and right for the client; I also inspire, encourage
and mentor junior teams, brief Photographers, Illustrators, Artworkers
and Retouchers - and present to clients.
For me, the main difference between working as a graphic designer and
as an art director is that I work more with people than computers. And
since I prefer to see the creative industry as a peoples industry, this
collaboration and co-working is key to creating exciting new work.
What are the worst things about being an AD? I would say the worst bit
is to not have the ability to execute my ideas myself and to trust others
to meet my ridiculously sky-high standards. However, if you are
working in the right place and collaborating with the right people, this
should be the least of your worries.
The best things? Being surrounded by great people and amazing talent,
regardless of the day-to-day ups and downs, difficult clients and/or a
stinking brief.
Ed Robinson
Creative concoctions>
People skills>
-
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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One of the main roles of an art director is usually to art-direct photo
shoots. I thought I'd share my experience in this area, then offer some
tips and pointers for your own career in art direction.
At a very early age I was lucky enough to be invited to photo shoots
arranged by my grandmother, Joan Sisley, a prominent v isual
consultant. And at age 12 I found myself on my first shoot covering the
Lake District music contest.
Of course, at this stage, I was purely assisting but my eyes were opened
to a far more creative world than I expected. Not one shot was of an
orchestra in a music hall - no, Joan had set up a pianist in a graveyard, a
Photographer, art director and picture editor Ed Robinson is founder
of visual consultancy OneRedEye Visual Communications
(http://www.oneredeye.com/).
Early shoots>
http://www.oneredeye.com/ -
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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cellist in a toilet cubicle and a string quartet on a rowing boat. Naturally,
from that moment I was intrigued and wanted an in on every shoot
coming up.
From there followed a few years of assisting, listening, learning about
composition, direction, preparation, creative thinking and slowly
discovered I had a talent for conceiving and art directing shoots, at that
time, for corporate stories that had a more advertising aesthetic but
intended for media worldwide.
Nowadays, I'm also a creative director, photographer and a
director/cameraman - all due to the transferable skills accrued and
developed art directing shoots.
My first fully fledged independent art direction was for a British Gas
sponsored campaign called Stepping Out that intended to educate the
older generation about staying active.
It was then that all my training and early experience paid off as the
plans to include a large number of OAPs making circles of footsteps
around the centerpiece, Honor Blackman aka, Pussy Galore, hit a
stumbling block when most of them were not that interested in listening
to a young art director but more interested in meeting the film star in
the middle.
I made a key decision to change the creative and picked one chap with a
great face and straw hat, picked a couple of large stones and had Honor
and him stepping out to each other on the beach. A simple solution that
earned the respect of the photographer, client and Honor. This leads me
to identifying the roles of an art director.
Career path>
My first campaign>
Pointers for shoots>
-
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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In my experience, different shoots demand different forms and levels of
art direction but here are a few pointers.
5 tips for becoming an art director
Here are Jenny Theolin (https://twitter.com/JennyTheolin)'s tips foranyone who wants to become an art director...
A book that is controversial, that scares, intrigues and has balls. As a
graduate and/or junior, you will probably not have as much real work,
so fill it with whatever is inside your head. Make it memorable. 90% of
the books I see are instantly forgettable I would much rather see your
take on Magrittes flying penises, than another bloody Guiness ad.
You are the new generation, get to grips with whats been done, evolve it
and do it better! Come up with wild ideas and have them fuck each other
to spawn mutant idea babies wholl take over the world. Why? Because a
great idea is one that scares the living pants off of you.
Pre planning. Work with the client, photographer and crew to decide on
the best creative approach that fits with the brief and meets budgetary
requirements.
1.
Production. If a producer is not part of the team then the art directorcan take on the planning of people, locations and props that fit the
creative.
2.
Work closely with the photographer and share ideas to best implement
creative. Collaboration and mutual respect is key
3.
Always keep an eye on what the end product is and, whilst allowing the
photographer to create, keep the shoot on brief.
4.
Form a good rapport with the team and any subjects. Be diplomatic but
direct as necessary to achieve end goals.
5.
Be flexible as things rarely go exactly to plan.6.
01. Put together a killer portfolio>
02. Be selfish, but dont be an arsehole>
https://twitter.com/JennyTheolin -
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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Hound your heroes and ask to meet them. Many love to talk about
themselves, so ask to meet them for advice, to pick their brains and to
see their work! However, dont be surprised if your icons actually turn
out to be old, grumpy farts. If you do meet them, make it your priority
to provoke them by demonstrating that you could be better than they
ever were within the right environment and with the right people of
course. Trust me, they want to be challenged.
Keep the momentum up and dont get stuck in a bubble. Creative
exploration is one of the benefits of this industry, so get out there and do
different things differently.
Get your voice heard and speak up, but not by blowing hot air youll
most definitely get caught out.
What employers are looking forHere, Ed Robinson (http://www.oneredeye.com/) lists the four main
qualities he would look for when employing a new art director...
Art directing the corporate and brand shoots that I have over the yearsit is always a people based role so character and personality are a big
deciding factor when considering an art director.
03. Make friends show interest in people
and their work>
04. Stay on top of blogs and trend-reports>
05. Make yourself noticed - in a good way>
01. Personable character>
http://www.oneredeye.com/ -
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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Ability to create from briefs that, on the surface, dont appear to be that
creative themselves.
Prior knowledge of what is achievable with equipment photographers
and post producers use is a must.
Show a good portfolio (http://www.creativebloq.com/create-perfect-
design-portfolio-111153) of work that represents the style of art
direction you employ and want to strive for.
Liked this? Read these!
02. Creativity>
03. Knowledge>
04. Presentation>
Master art direction with a conceptual brief(http://www.creativebloq.com/art-direction/alien-art-direction-
conceptual-brief-812634)
How to get a career in graphic design: 12 pro tips
(http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/get-career-graphic-
design-1012931)
How to become a junior designer
(http://www.creativebloq.com/career/become-junior-designer-
7133617)
How to be a creative director
(http://www.creativebloq.com/career/how-become-creative-director-
11121363)
What design job titles really mean
(http://www.creativebloq.com/career/what-design-job-titles-mean-
11410424)
The pro's guide to design internships
(http://www.creativebloq.com/career/internship-2131903)
http://www.creativebloq.com/career/internship-2131903http://www.creativebloq.com/career/what-design-job-titles-mean-11410424http://www.creativebloq.com/career/how-become-creative-director-11121363http://www.creativebloq.com/career/become-junior-designer-7133617http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/get-career-graphic-design-1012931http://www.creativebloq.com/art-direction/alien-art-direction-conceptual-brief-812634http://www.creativebloq.com/create-perfect-design-portfolio-111153 -
7/27/2019 How to Become an Art Director _ Career _ Creative Bloq
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Did our experts' experience of working as an art director mesh with
yours? Please share your views in the comments below!
Tags: Career (/tag/career), Graphic design (/tag/graphic-design),
Art direction (/tag/art-direction), Computer Arts (/tag/computer-arts),
Feature (/tag/feature)
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aake
November 07, 2012 at13:38
wow! Thanks for a great article! Really useful information, that
doesn't get said out loud too often!
www.akjormanainen.com (http://www.akjormanainen.com)
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April 15, 2013 at 1 0:04
One great post! Mobile marketing truly is the future! Making a
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marcellSeptember 26, 2013 at22:52
Wow this helped me greatly. It nearly described my whole life. It
also leaves room for perfection at its best and with time to grow i
believe i can use this informational to seduce my own creativity
into something far greater and better.Thanks a million
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kharmon24
November 06, 2013 at16:13
** Another great hint that shouldn't be overlooked is that initial
killer portfolio. The Creative Circus in Atlanta is a portfolio school
that not only trains creatives & helps them build amazing books,
but has such a connection with the industry that recruiters treat
it like their staffing firm. It's a terrible Catch 22 when an agency
says "Get some experience" but you can't get experience without
getting hired to begin with. A book that will not only get you
noticed by recruiters, but hired is extremely hard to put together
& portfolio schools are worth looking into if you have the eternal
creative itch.
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