Production Designer vs. Art Director

A production designer is a person who focuses on the overall visual representation of the story and works closely with the director, while an art director works more closely with the crew and support staff to ensure that tasks are carried out to turn the production designer's vision into reality.

How do I get started as an art director?

You can get started as an art director by earning your bachelor's degree. Most art directors hold degrees, unsurprisingly, in art or design subjects. If starting from the point of professional experience rather than education, you can get started as an art director by first working in graphic design, illustration, photography, or any other artistic occupation.

How long does it take to become an art director?

It takes three to five years to become an art director. Getting a bachelor's degree usually takes about four years, and you will more likely than not be required to have some prior work experience before earning the title of art director.

How much do art directors get paid?

Art directors in the U.S. get paid about $69,000 a year, on average. As with all professions, salaries can vary greatly depending on location, prior experience, education, and other factors.

What are the pros and cons of being an art director?

The pros and cons of being an art director relate to creativity, leadership, and long working hours. Here are the top pros and cons of being an art director: Pros: Creativity and freedom

What degree do you need to be an art director?

You need a bachelor's degree to be an art director. Art directors need at least a bachelor's degree in an art or design subject and previous work experience. Depending on the industry, art directors can come from a range of diverse backgrounds such as graphic design, fine art, editoring, or photography, or in another art field.

What is the difference between an art director and a creative director?

The difference between an art director and a creative director is that an art director is focused solely on aesthetics, whereas a creative director will handle many other duties. These duties include strategy, campaign execution, and more. On some occasions, a creative director will perform art direction as well. More often, however, art directors and creative directors will work in tandem, with creative directors providing conceptual ideas behind a project and art directors executing on the details.

How To Become An Art Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is an art director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Cynthia Tovar

An art director's duties basically revolve around the handling of artistic trends and decisions in plans and campaigns. Several times, it is up to you to think up strategies and ensure the accomplishments of the goals and take charge in harmonizing with different artists and productive workers. In addition, as an art director, you must keep an eye on the improvement of workflow and the labor force, create ideas and strategies, and validate or give opinions on every ingenious achievement by workers.

You must exhibit good communication, project management, coordination, leadership skills, and aesthetic assessment. Additionally, you must have a bachelor's degree. Being an apprentice in an art-related industry can help as well. You will earn an average salary of $74,672 or $35.90 per hour.

What general advice would you give to an Art Director?

Cynthia Tovar

Board Member, Association of Registrars and Collections Specialists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Due to the pandemic, it is unfortunate that there are limited job openings for new graduates entering the workforce; however, there are a number of ways that a young professional can continue to network and gain experience, including virtual internships and entering into an official mentorship or training program (such as the ARCS Mentorship Program, The Museum Leadership, Polaris mentorship program, the Broad Diversity Apprenticeship Program, or The Registrar Hour, Intern Hour). Emerging professionals that join ARCS as an individual or student member, will have access to job listings, networking opportunities, funding opportunities for conferences and the mentor program among other benefits.

For those that do enter the workforce, many institutions' staff are still working remotely or operating in a hybrid model. There will be a need for new staff to communicate effectively with their supervisors, while working remotely, over video meetings. They might also be expected to learn new software or technology such as DocuSign to facilitate remote working and or be expected to serve as a virtual courier using video technology and digital condition reporting techniques. Museums can benefit from a fresh viewpoint that advocates for efficiencies and new ways of operating in these challenging times.

ScoreArt DirectorUS Average

Salary

6.9

Avg. Salary $88,367

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.9

Growth Rate 4%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 7.80%

Black or African American 4.38%

Hispanic or Latino 14.47%

Unknown 5.56%

White 67.17%

Gender

female 42.60%

male 57.40%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.2

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.0

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an art director

Explore art director education requirements

Most common art director degrees

Bachelor's

74.6 %

Associate

15.3 %

Master's

5.9 %

Start to develop specific art director skills

Skills	Percentages
Graphic Design	11.18%
Art Direction	7.17%
Creative Concepts	7.13%
Sketch	6.96%
Adobe Creative Suite	5.50%

Complete relevant art director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New art directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an art director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real art director resumes.

Research art director duties and responsibilities

Manage a small group of graphic artists for PC/Mac catalog.
Lead the conception, design and execution of cross channel initiatives for healthcare and pharmaceutical clients.
Monitor the day-to-day activities on projects working with editorial, design and technical teams to execute and achieve project goals.
Collaborate on marketing strategies and concept creation for sketch presentations, and photo shoots with talent.

Get art director experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become an art director. The most common roles before becoming an art director include graphic designer, senior graphic designer team lead and designer.

Prepare your art director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your art director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an art director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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