It'south natural for your career to progress as you lot gain new knowledge and blueprint skills. If you lot have extensive feel in graphic design, photography, fine fine art, or another creative occupation, condign an art manager is only i way to accelerate through the ranks. This guide volition explore what an art director does, the departure between an art director and a creative director, and applied tips on how to get an art director or grow into the function.

"A peachy art director should exist able to tackle ii main aspects of a project—the creative and the emotional." — Marco Cvijetic, Fine art Director @IKEA

Art Director Job Description

An art director is responsible for developing and executing designs for advertisements, magazines, digital publications, newspapers, movies, telly shows, product packaging, and other collaborative artistic projects. The job of an fine art director ofttimes involves creating original designs and directing the piece of work of artists, designers, and other individuals involved in the project. Every bit an art director, you must exist able to use design thinking to solve bug in a creative style. You may as well exist asked to perform the following duties:

  • Select creative elements needed for a project including photographs, illustrations, fonts, sound, etc.
  • Manage pattern staff, including graphic designers, illustrators, and set designers
  • Coordinate project activities with workers in other departments
  • Create timelines and budgets for design projects
  • Corroborate photographs, illustrations, and designs created by other professionals

Fine art director Marco Cvijetic describes his office in a nutshell:

"I currently work as an Art Manager at IKEA with a focus on Product Pictures & Films. That means that together with a really diverse team of Photographers, 3D Artists, Interior Designers, and Retouch Artists, nosotros produce content for IKEA's global website simply also for many other channels."

Career Opportunities for Art Directors

One of the most heady things nigh becoming an art managing director is that you can work every bit an employee or as an contained contractor. As a full-time art director employee, yous may work for a film studio, a public relations house, a newspaper or mag publisher, or an advertising bureau. If you get the freelance route, yous can specialize in working with i type of company or offering your services to companies in a multifariousness of industries.

Employment opportunities are most abundant in highly populated areas. In the U.s.a., for example, California, Texas, Florida, and Pennsylvania are amongst the states with the about opportunities for art directors. You tin can besides notice many employment opportunities in London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, and other international cities.

Skills Needed to Become an Fine art Director

But because yous have design skills doesn't mean you lot'll succeed equally an fine art director. You also need to accept some specific personal characteristics. One of the most important is an fifty-fifty temperament. You need to exist able to inspire team members and motivate them to work hard when a borderline is looming.

A good art managing director likewise knows when team members can piece of work autonomously and when they demand a little more oversight, so you must exist able to maintain a practiced residual betwixt micromanaging people and leaving them without whatever support at all. If you maintain this delicate residuum, yous're more than likely to complete a project successfully. You lot may also develop a reputation as a skilled leader, creating more than opportunities to share your creativity with the world.

As an art director, y'all need to work with many project stakeholders, from the clients paying for your services to the squad members responsible for performing the work. To truly succeed in the role, yous must be open to constructive feedback from each person. Accepting feedback gracefully is the sign of a true professional who is more interested in completing the project successfully than in boosting their own ego.

Art Director Average Bacon

The salary of an fine art director varies based on several factors, including employment status, industry, geographic location, task duties, and feel level. Co-ordinate to Salary.com, the average salary for an art director in the United states is $127,411 per year. Salaries in the art direction field typically range from $107,714 to $151,867.

How to Get an Art Director

Art directors go to apply their inventiveness and leadership skills to bring big visions to life. If this appeals to y'all, follow these steps to becoming an fine art manager.

Go an instruction (or proceeds experience)

Many fine art directors have some type of formal education, such as a bachelor's degree or master'southward caste in design or a closely related field. Depending on your interests and skills, you may desire to pursue a caste in graphic design, fine art, or photography. It's besides possible to become an art managing director with a degree in media technology or flick production if you're interested in working on motion picture and television sets.

While a degree tin can help you land an fine art director job much faster, years of relevant work feel can also pb to new fine art direction career opportunities.

"Art Direction should be a natural stride subsequently many years of working equally a designer and not but knowing how you piece of work only how the artistic industry works too." — Marco Cvijetic, Art Director @IKEA

Develop your skills

To succeed as an fine art director, yous must accept a specific combination of hard and soft skills. Difficult skills, also known as technical skills, are professional person skills that relate directly to art management, and soft skills are the skills you need to manage your responsibilities effectively. Depending on which industry you choose, you lot may need to excel at graphic design, multimedia content development, desktop publishing, or creating illustrations with Adobe software. Yous can develop these skills in lower-level roles or work every bit a freelance artistic professional to go the experience you lot need to apply for fine art director jobs in the future.

Soft skills make it easier to interact with other people and ensure every projection is completed on time and to the client's exacting standards. Art directors must be able to communicate effectively with everyone involved in the project, from company executives to design interns. You likewise need to accept management and leadership skills to ensure that everyone on your team executes the creative managing director's vision successfully. Art directors need to meet tight deadlines, adapt quickly to irresolute circumstances, and consul assignments to the people on your team.

"Beingness a talented designer who is attracted to details and trends is swell, but the other half is existence a people person who knows how to handle different clients and build bridges between the expectation and the solution." — Marco Cvijetic, Art Director @IKEA

Build an art director portfolio

As you gain experience, add together completed projects to your pattern portfolio to show futurity clients how your skills have improved over the years. If y'all don't have a portfolio still, follow these tips to create 1 that helps you land the art director job of your dreams.

  • Include simply your all-time piece of work. If you don't like the fashion a project turned out, you won't feel confident discussing information technology with a potential client.
  • Put your most impressive project at the showtime of your portfolio to capture the viewer'south attention.
  • Add a diversity of projects to your portfolio. Y'all don't want potential clients to think you lot're a one-play a trick on pony, then add together as many types of projects to your portfolio every bit possible to show off your skills and creative range.
  • Digitize your portfolio. Gone are the days when you had to elevate a huge portfolio example to every coming together. You nonetheless need to go along hard copies of completed projects, but many potential clients would rather visit your website to acquire more about your work. Brand loftier-resolution scans or have photos and and so add together them to your online portfolio with short descriptions of the role you played in each project.
  • Include cocky-initiated projects if you can't share work yous completed for past employers or clients. You lot may take to do this if you signed a nondisclosure agreement. Sharing self-initiated projects is as well helpful if your paid work experience is in a rather narrow niche and you lot desire to exist able to bear witness potential clients that you have a much broader range.

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Continuously learn

Just considering you already completed your degree and have some work experience under your chugalug doesn't hateful information technology's okay to stop learning. If you lot want to know how to become an art director, one of the keys is to appoint in continuous learning. As yous build your portfolio, you should continue developing your skills and proactively stay upwards to engagement on the latest trends and happenings in your field. As new styles and techniques emerge, knowing what's going on under the surface is more important than always to growing your fine art direction career.

Sites like Udemy and LinkedIn Learning are ideal for learning new design methods, experimenting with industry-standard software, and gaining a amend understanding of what an art director does. ​​Follow design blogs and publications to understand how your field is evolving.

Build your professional person network

Now that you lot have the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to get an art director, it's time to striking the networking circuit. Professional networking has a bad reputation in some circles, but it can exist highly constructive if you approach it the right way. Instead of attention a networking event for the sole purpose of landing a paid gig, make information technology a point to build relationships with the people you come across. If you don't have a lot of networking experience, follow these tips to ensure everything goes smoothly.

  • Have business cards with you lot to brand information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to commutation contact information with other attendees.
  • Write an elevator pitch and practice information technology before the event. An lift pitch is a quick mode to introduce yourself to someone else and give them an overview of what y'all do.
  • Listen more than you talk. When you exercise talk, endeavour to say something of value to the other person. You may want to offer advice on solving a tough design problem, for example.
  • Stay in touch after the event is over. Instead of pitching your services, focus on helping your contacts in some style. An like shooting fish in a barrel way to practise this is to send an e-mail with a link to an article that offers additional insight on a topic you discussed during the networking event.

Attract new clients

As a freelance art director, your income depends solely on your power to state new projects. Attending networking events is a good first pace, but it'due south not the simply way to go freelance piece of work. If you're searching for your next opportunity, try some of these tactics:

  • Develop a comprehensive marketing program to increment awareness of your services. Your marketing strategy may include impress advertising, digital advertising, search engine optimization, and word-of-mouth marketing activities.
  • Inquire previous clients for referrals.
  • Create profiles on Dribbble, LinkedIn, and other professional networking sites. Make sure you lot betoken that you're open to new opportunities.
  • Commencement a blog or await for opportunities to contribute to magazines and digital publications. Sharing your expertise is a cracking way to get potential clients interested in what you have to offer.
  • Position yourself every bit an expert in the field past publishing an ebook or answering questions on sites like Quora.
  • Constitute a potent social media presence.
  • Volunteer to present at conferences for industry professionals.
  • Donate your services to a nonprofit organization. This is especially helpful if you lot need to branch out and add a new type of design projection to your portfolio.

Marko Cvijetic

What's the Difference Between an Art Manager and a Artistic Director?

The difference between an art director and a artistic director is quite subtle. A creative manager is responsible for coming up with the overall vision of a project, and an art director is responsible for executing that vision.

Art directors and creative directors need some of the aforementioned skills, such equally team management and delegation, simply an art director is more involved in the details of project execution.

The job of a artistic director typically involves:

  • Big-picture thinking
  • Coming up with interesting and innovative ideas
  • Delegating tasks to team members
  • Ensuring finished designs meet customer expectations

Artistic directors are oftentimes charged with creating a brand road map or developing a cohesive brand identity and creative vision, giving audience members — product buyers, mag readers, movie watchers, etc. — a consistent experience.

What are the most of import skills for a creative director?

If you're interested in condign a creative manager instead of an fine art director, y'all should have the most of import skills needed: leadership, facilitation, artistic eye, team-building skills, inspiration, and passion. It'south likewise critical to have feel as a designer or artist of some sort.

For example, someone with photography expertise may take the eye for item needed to develop unique creative visions for a wide diversity of projects. You may also be well-suited for a creative director position if yous excel at storytelling because a creative manager must be able to develop designs that tell a compelling story.

What's the average salary of a Creative Managing director?

The salary of a creative director varies based on several factors, including employment status, industry, geographic location, job duties, and experience level. According to Bacon.com, the boilerplate salary for a artistic director in the U.s. is $134,055 per twelvemonth. Salaries in this field typically range from $113,311 to $157,347.

Your New Career Awaits

Working as an art director or creative managing director is extremely rewarding, especially if yous decide to become a freelancer. Every project you complete is an opportunity for professional person growth and one that can help you advance your career as y'all learn new skills. To pursue this exciting career, obtain a caste in a blueprint or a media-related field, gain feel, and build a portfolio that captures attention.