Profession art director: job responsibilities

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The world of professions is large and varied. He, like a living organism, constantly grows and renews itself. With the development of the economy, technological progress, the standard of living in general, some speci alties arise and others disappear. One of the new positions in demand today is the art director. About the areas in which it is significant, what is included in the terms of reference of this specialist and what qualities you need to have for work, and will be discussed in our article.

The emergence of a profession

This position appeared relatively recently: about 20 years ago. Its appearance was associated with the rapid development of the advertising business. During the rapid growth of competition, there was a need for a specialist who could produce non-standard advertising, supervise the creation of creative projects, organizing the work of the creative department.

The first representatives of the profession had no specialized education. They were graphic designers, employeespublishing houses, in a word, people associated with creativity. It was they who had the skills necessary for an art director: a sense of color, the ability to draw, knowledge of design styles and types of fonts.

Meaning of term

Based on the name of the profession, where art (English) is art, and director is the head of the enterprise, we can conclude that these 2 components literally mean "creative boss", that is, a person who heads an entire department employees in this area, he puts forward new ideas and contributes to their implementation. He oversees the creative activities of the company and is directly responsible for the implementation of creative projects. As a rule, in his work he directly collaborates with photographers, editors, designers, copywriters and other representatives of this field.

The amount of work, assigned duties and the staff of subordinates always depends on the professional qualities of the employee and the scale of the organization in which he works.

Today, the position of an art director is a managerial one and has a number of other names: art manager, artistic director, administrator… The super-task of this employee's activity is to increase the institution's profits.

Required segment of the labor market

This profession, as a rule, is in demand in areas related to creativity. Among them: publishing, design, film, television, advertising, entertainment, Internet, video game creation, branding, etc. In all these areas"creative leader" performs both general tasks and specialized ones (depending on the type of activity of the company).

Job Responsibilities

The work of an art director comes down to performing two main functions, namely:

1. Creative:

• Creating a brand concept.
• Selection of media for advertising campaign.
• Preparing content for an online resource.
• Working in social networks.
• Preparation of materials for PR (preparation of printing, layouts, sketches of advertising products).
• Introduction of promotions and special offers for customers.
• Working on brand presentations.

2. Managerial:

• Joint work with a creative team of designers, authors, artists and other professionals involved in the creation of the project, monitoring the implementation of the tasks set by them on time.
• Market analysis and strategic planning of the department.
• Monitoring the results of an advertising campaign.
• Reporting.
• Signing contracts with contractors.
• Communication with company partners.

If necessary, the work of the art director includes the organization of photo and video shooting, sales, preparation of participation in tenders.

It should be noted that the list of these duties is generally accepted, since depending on the creative direction, the specialist will have an additional amount of work.

Features of the profession invarious fields

Each creative direction imposes additional responsibilities on the art director. So, for example, in design studios and branding companies, one of the main tasks of this employee is to create a unique style for the company, its products and services, prepare typographic advertising products and develop a sketch of product packaging.

In publishing, an art director's job is to work with section editors, designers, illustrators, and technicians on the artwork for printed literature. He analyzes the general idea of the publication, develops a layout grid, selects fonts, and, if necessary, suggests ideas for a photo session. When creating printed literature, it is the creative director who monitors compliance with the requirements of GOST, especially for young readers.

In the advertising field, his main task is the creation of creative ideas and their implementation. The art director is responsible for the visual part and oversees all stages of the creative project.

An indispensable representative of this profession in the entertainment industry, namely in restaurants and nightclubs. Here, his responsibilities include analyzing customer needs, planning entertainment events and cost estimates, selecting media for advertising, and managing creative ideas and concepts. At the same time, the art director of the restaurant conducts an analysis of the competitive environment, advertising photo shoots, and works on customer reviews.

In a nightclub, the creative director performs administrative functions: he searches for and attracts tenants forholding custom events, organizes concerts, parties, spectacular show programs and performs all related tasks (selection of repertoire, signing contracts with artists, booking hotels), works on promoting the institution (posts information on the website, selects content and designs advertising products). The art director of the club also constantly monitors the performance of their duties by employees in order to ensure the well-coordinated work of the institution.

Professional skills

Skills are required for good personal performance and skillful management of the creative department:

• ability to work in office programs: Excel, Power Point, Word;
• knowledge of graphic programs (Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, InDesign);
• understanding the basics of composition and graphic design;
• sketching;
• layout.

Compulsory for a creative leader is a competent speech, since the result of his activity directly depends on the ability to achieve mutual understanding with employees, customers and business partners.

Personal qualities of a department manager

Art director is a rather responsible profession, so a person who decides to engage in this type of activity should have:

1. Organization skills.
2. Stress resistance.
3. Commitment.
4. Determination.
5. Creativity.
6. Leadership.
7. Skillwork as a team.
8. Responsibility.
9. Communication.

Having all the above qualities and a specialized education, you can achieve good performance in the profession and decent pay for your work.

Required education

According to the analysis of the requirements for the position of an art director (vacancies in Russia), the applicant must have a higher profile education (art), therefore, the speci alties "Art Management", "Industrial Art", "Entrepreneurship" are suitable for studying at a university in culture", etc. Additional courses in commercial institutions, such as the School of Design and Computer Graphics, will not be superfluous. And for those who want to get a position in a large company operating in the international market, a good command of English is required.

Career Opportunities

The profession of an art director is one of the most prestigious, as it is a management position with a good salary. It is clear that not everything is given at once, and sometimes career advancement begins with a simple manager, but with full dedication and determination, you can make an excellent career. So, having good organizational skills, work experience and leadership qualities, it is quite possible to get the above-mentioned position with good pay in a short time. Today, a novice art director (Moscow), according to specialized employment sites, receives 30-40 thousand rubles, and a professional - from 50 to 150.take into account that this specialist has a wide range of duties and considerable responsibility, therefore his financial remuneration directly depends on the level of professionalism, volume and effectiveness of the work performed.

If desired, having comprehended all the basics of this creative profession, a person can open his own company, recruit staff and successfully do what he loves.

Thus, the services of an art director are quite in demand today. In the field of education, there are all opportunities to obtain the desired speci alty, and the labor market is filled with interesting and promising offers for applicants in this area. This position is ideal for people who do not like monotony, can multi-task, are not afraid of difficulties and want to become successful in their profession.