What does a creative/art director do?
A creative/art director is someone who provides the conceptual idea behind a project and executes project details. His/Her or her responsibilities include leading a team of artists and developing budgets and timelines. The essential skills that a creative/art director should possess to accomplish such responsibilities include good analytical and technical skills and the ability to adapt to his/her or her team. The job's education requirements include obtaining a bachelor's degree in graphic design, advertising, fine arts, or other related fields.
Creative/art director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real creative/art director resumes:
- Develop strategic project plans managing and maintaining multiple projects from sketch to print, facilitating high-impact presentations to senior leadership.
- Produce initial HTML code and CSS styling development for approve design.
- Assist with the uploading of site creatives, landing pages, emails & providing any HTML and CSS coding when necessary.
- Web product design skills using software, CSS and more.
- Design and code website using CSS and integrate database content from external sources.
- Work closely with marketing and photography directors to arrive at outstanding solutions.
- Present campaigns to clients and supervise photography, television and music productions.
- Develop strategic project plans managing and maintaining multiple projects from sketch to print, facilitating high-impact presentations to senior leadership.
- Create elearning quizes and in-classroom powerpoint presentations to assist professors in teaching bachelors, masters, and doctorate level courses.
- Lead online product strategy including SEO, information architecture, and e-commerce implementation.
- Create and implement on-page SEO optimization for better website visibility and brand recognition.
- Plan renewal website and advertisement, making UI design and technical specifications for development.
- Create UI standards for control systems design and improve customer satisfaction and usability of install client-side systems.
- Develop strategic design and UX direction for website, base on ever-changing requirements of visitors and marketing objectives.
Creative/art director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Creative/Art Directors are proficient in Sketch, Art Direction, and Photography. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Creativity, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Creative/Art Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Sketch, 20%
Developed strategic project plans managing and maintaining multiple projects from sketch to print, facilitating high-impact presentations to senior leadership.
- Art Direction, 7%
Provide on set Art Direction and Creative Consultant for Rejuvenation Catalog, PB Catalog, and Mark & Graham Catalog.
- Photography, 7%
Presented campaigns to clients and supervised photography, television and music productions.
- Creative Direction, 5%
Increased efficiency of enterprise billing to 4M+ customers by providing creative direction, collaborating with multiple departments and implementing bill redesign.
- Web Banners, 5%
Enhance companies' brand by designing web banners and social media post that are relevant to the brand.
- Graphic Design, 5%
Hired as Graphic Designer, promoted to Marketing Manager/Creative Director.
"sketch," "art direction," and "photography" are among the most common skills that creative/art directors use at work. You can find even more creative/art director responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a creative/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, a creative/art director resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "lead creation, design, and development of marketing communications from creative concept through implementation. "
Creativity. Many creative/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 a creative/art director will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways creative/art director responsibilities rely on creativity: "spearheaded creative team that developed wireframe designs and defined the user experience for razdog software solutions innovative cloud motion. "
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for creative/art directors to perform their duties. For an example of how creative/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 a creative/art director: "provided creative leadership to business owners, marketing, and junior designers with creative direction and ux. ".
Time-management skills. For certain creative/art director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a creative/art director rely on this skill, as "balancing competing priorities and multiple projects while meeting strict deadlines is critical for art directors." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what creative/art directors do: "report to ministry captain to insure priorities have been met on time and effectively. "
The three companies that hire the most creative/art directors are:
- Accenture20 creative/art directors jobs
- Wpp Us Holdings Inc5 creative/art directors jobs
- Apple2 creative/art directors jobs
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Compare different creative/art directors
Creative/art director vs. Art consultant
Directors work in show business, whether in a film, a television show, or a theatre production. They are responsible for bringing the material to life. They work with the writers to get a clear vision of how the production should look. They lead the production team in planning for the production, identifying filming or rehearsing schedules, casting for roles, and other aspects that need to be decided upon. Directors provide direction to the actors to ensure that the actors understand their role and will be able to effectively convey emotions to the audience. They also manage all other crew members and communicate their expectations clearly so that everyone on the set is working towards one vision.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between creative/art directors and art consultant. For instance, creative/art director responsibilities require skills such as "sketch," "art direction," "photography," and "creative direction." Whereas a art consultant is skilled in "art gallery," "contemporary art," "art collections," and "art shows." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Art consultants really shine in the internet industry with an average salary of $68,646. Comparatively, creative/art directors tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $152,495.art consultants tend to reach higher levels of education than creative/art directors. In fact, art consultants are 7.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Creative/art director vs. Gallery director
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that creative/art director responsibilities requires skills like "sketch," "art direction," "creative direction," and "web banners." But a gallery director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "gallery exhibitions," "art gallery," "press releases," and "sales transactions."
Gallery directors earn a lower average salary than creative/art directors. But gallery directors earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $68,281. Additionally, creative/art directors earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $152,495 annually.In general, gallery directors achieve higher levels of education than creative/art directors. They're 8.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for creative/art directors in the next 3-5 years?
Scott Foster
Associate Professor of Studio Art, Chair of Creative Arts Department, Siena College
Creative/art director vs. Director
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a creative/art director is likely to be skilled in "sketch," "art direction," "photography," and "creative direction," while a typical director is skilled in "customer service," "oversight," "project management," and "human resources."
Directors earn the highest salary when working in the finance industry, where they receive an average salary of $155,819. Comparatively, creative/art directors have the highest earning potential in the technology industry, with an average salary of $152,495.When it comes to education, directors tend to earn higher degree levels compared to creative/art directors. In fact, they're 11.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Creative/art director vs. Co-director
Even though a few skill sets overlap between creative/art directors and co-directors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a creative/art director might have more use for skills like "sketch," "art direction," "photography," and "creative direction." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of co-directors require skills like "oversight," "curriculum development," "community outreach," and "mental health. "
Co-directors enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $83,655. For comparison, creative/art directors earn the highest salary in the technology industry.In general, co-directors hold higher degree levels compared to creative/art directors. Co-directors are 8.4% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 4.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of creative/art director
Updated January 8, 2025
