What does an art director do?
An art director's duty will vary depending on the line of industry involved. However, most of the responsibilities will revolve in taking charge of the artistic direction and decisions in a project or campaign. Most of the time, it is an art director's call to conceptualize and bring a vision to completion and take the lead in coordinating with various artists and creative staff. Furthermore, an art director must oversee the progress of workflow and workforce, develop plans and strategies, and approve or provide suggestions in every creative output from staff.
Art director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real art director resumes:
- 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.
- Utilize working knowledge of HTML, CSS and PHP in the creation of web sites and social media campaigns.
- Perform vast typesetting and paste-up duties.
- Screen print artwork on apparel to fill orders.
- Create social network, SEM & SEO marketing strategies.
- Interact with subcontractors for the acquisition of printing and typesetting.
- Receive and process all outside scholarship checks and reconcile account balances.
- Direct the fulfillment of artwork for apparel manufacturing in-full and on-time.
- Organize and set up shoots in NYC, and all over the country.
- Create print campaign to promote healthcare benefits and insurance coverage available to AARP members.
- Code with PHP and also CSS for quicker and easier updates of content and images.
- Web development with skills in HTML5, CSS, WordPress content management systems with search engine optimization.
Art director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Art Directors are proficient in Graphic Design, Art Direction, and Creative Concepts. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Creativity, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Art Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Graphic Design, 11%
Oversee the graphic design department for developing catalog and design for collegiate and university-level competitive sports apparel.
- Art Direction, 7%
Collaborated with copywriters, illustrators, and photographers to ensure the art direction and visual presentation supported defined strategies.
- Creative Concepts, 7%
Produced creative concepts that transcended digital tactics that immediately drew public emotions, and directly affected and positively engaged the audience.
- Sketch, 7%
Developed designs from thumbnail sketch to formal layout design for client presentation.
- Adobe Creative Suite, 5%
Demonstrate a high level of proficiency in design, web and multimedia software and applications, such as Adobe Creative Suite.
- Adobe Photoshop, 5%
Used advanced Adobe Photoshop technique to address organization, exceptional and image editing process.
"graphic design," "art direction," and "creative concepts" are among the most common skills that art directors use at work. You can find even more art director responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an art director to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "art directors must be able to listen to and speak with staff and clients to ensure that they understand employees’ ideas and clients’ desires for advertisements, publications, or movie sets." Additionally, an art director resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "established art direction, style, and tone of communication. "
Creativity. Many art director duties rely on creativity. "art directors must be able to come up with interesting and innovative ideas to develop advertising campaigns, set designs, or layout options.," so an art director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways art director responsibilities rely on creativity: "provide detailed art direction and structure in key role as creative director for marinemax's bi-annual publishing of the lifestyles magazine. "
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for art directors to perform their duties. For an example of how art director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "art directors must be able to organize, direct, and motivate other artists." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an art director: "provided art direction and leadership to designers, reviewed design phases of projects accurately and efficiently. ".
Time-management skills. A big part of what art directors do relies on "time-management skills." You can see how essential it is to art director responsibilities because "balancing competing priorities and multiple projects while meeting strict deadlines is critical for art directors." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical art director tasks: "provided art direction/production and project management for deadline driven projects from conceptualization to completion. "
The three companies that hire the most art directors are:
- Highmark106 art directors jobs
- Circle International Inc21 art directors jobs
- Wpp Us Holdings Inc19 art directors jobs
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Compare different art directors
Art director vs. Senior graphic designer
A senior graphic designer oversees all of the designing operations in a company, from conceptualization to production. One of their primary responsibilities is to ensure that all designs produced are according to a client's preference and brand. They also encourage fresh ideas from the team, communicate with clients or representatives, and manage the schedules to meet all deadlines. Furthermore, as a senior graphic designer, they are responsible for leading and mentoring a team of graphic designers, all in the joint effort to reach project goals.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between art directors and senior graphic designer. For instance, art director responsibilities require skills such as "creative process," "design projects," "xd," and "creative development." Whereas a senior graphic designer is skilled in "html css," "digital marketing," "project management," and "motion graphics." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Senior graphic designers tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $78,796. In contrast, art directors make the biggest average salary, $114,664, in the technology industry.senior graphic designers tend to reach similar levels of education than art directors. In fact, senior graphic designers are 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Art director vs. Graphic design manager
A graphic design manager is primarily in charge of leading and overseeing the efforts of a graphic design team, ensuring adherence to goals and deadlines. It is their duty to learn and analyze the purpose of design, coordinate staff, liaise with internal and external parties, set goals and objectives, manage schedules, and conceptualize plans. Furthermore, as a graphic design manager, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real art director resumes. While art director responsibilities can utilize skills like "creative concepts," "sketch," "creative solutions," and "adobe indesign," graphic design managers use skills like "project management," "customer service," "flyers," and "posters."
Graphic design managers earn a lower average salary than art directors. But graphic design managers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $82,776. Additionally, art directors earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $114,664 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Graphic design managers tend to reach similar levels of education than art directors. In fact, they're 2.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for art directors in the next 3-5 years?
Scott Foster
Associate Professor of Studio Art, Chair of Creative Arts Department, Siena College
Art director vs. Visual designer
A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an art director is likely to be skilled in "product photography," "brochures," "mac," and "creative process," while a typical visual designer is skilled in "visual design," "ui," "visualization," and "html css."
Visual designers earn the highest salary when working in the start-up industry, where they receive an average salary of $121,675. Comparatively, art directors have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $114,664.Most visual designers achieve a similar degree level compared to art directors. For example, they're 2.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Art director vs. Lead graphic designer
A lead graphic designer is responsible for creating, designing, and updating the company's visual aspects. The lead graphic designer works closely with the branding department alongside the advertising and marketing team. It is essential for the lead graphic designer must be creative, willing to think outside the box, and brave to dare novel ideas. The lead graphic designer is also responsible for leading the creative department in accomplishing assigned tasks from management.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between art directors and lead graphic designers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an art director might have more use for skills like "creative concepts," "creative solutions," "creative process," and "style guides." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of lead graphic designers require skills like "project management," "motion graphics," "embroidery," and "twitter. "
Lead graphic designers enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $85,443. For comparison, art directors earn the highest salary in the technology industry.In general, lead graphic designers hold similar degree levels compared to art directors. Lead graphic designers are 2.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of art director
Updated January 8, 2025
