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Freelance art director skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Elizabeth Sutton,

Elizabeth Sutton

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical freelance art director skills. We ranked the top skills for freelance art directors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 16.8% of freelance art director resumes contained photography as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a freelance art director needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 freelance art director skills for your resume and career

1. Photography

Here's how freelance art directors use photography:

Administered and managed daily operations including design, photography and freelancers, handling jobs from conception through completion.
Conceptualized photography and graphic layouts for e-commerce, print and advertisement.

2. Strong Work Ethic

Here's how freelance art directors use strong work ethic:

Maintained a high level of professionalism and held a strong work ethic towards all instructors and students.

3. Creative Development

Here's how freelance art directors use creative development:

Task included: Leading creative development, preparation, art direction and management of photo shoots.
Participate in the creative development of all Branding, Packaging and Advertising assignments.

4. Environmental Design

Here's how freelance art directors use environmental design:

Experienced in motion/video presentation creation and environmental design.
Experience with photography and environmental design.

5. Web Banners

A web banner is used on websites as a form of advertisement to showcase products and services via images situated at strategic positions on the web page. They are mostly rectangular and can be situated at the bottom, top, right, middle or left part of any given web page or online content. A web banner is a popular form of online advertising and doesn't obstruct the viewing process of web visitors like pop-up ads.

Here's how freelance art directors use web banners:

Worked on web banners from concept, design to interaction notes for the developers.
Design Web banners for website, Including House-Ads, Sell Sheets and Advertorials.

6. Adobe Photoshop

Here's how freelance art directors use adobe photoshop:

Complete work with programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere and Cinema 4d
Updated web design & information for all digital inventory utilizing Adobe Photoshop.

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7. Graphic Design

Graphic design is the art of making visual content to communicate messages. Designers apply different page layout methods and visual hierarchy by using letters and pictures to meet the need of end-users. Most companies use graphic design to sell their product or services and to convey complicated information by using infographics.

Here's how freelance art directors use graphic design:

Created ad concepts, identity, packaging, web design and video editing for ad agencies and graphic design firms.
Brand Development, Advertising Creation, Graphic Design Consulting, Creative Direction and Art Direction.

8. Concept Development

Concept development refers to the process of developing activities or ideas about a product or procedure in order to solve design issues or operational challenges. This is typically seen early in a design or engineering process in order to smooth out any details regarding the product's form and that all needs will be met by the current design.

Here's how freelance art directors use concept development:

Worked closely with multiple production companies from concept development through execution and delivery.
Provided creative concept development on a per-project basis for various companies, non-profits and consumer brands.

9. Website Design

Here's how freelance art directors use website design:

Project work: website design, sales collateral, corporate identity systems, photo art direction, photo editing.
Created online identities and affordable website design solutions for small businesses.

10. Creative Direction

Here's how freelance art directors use creative direction:

Developed strategic and creative direction for Nissan Dealer Group: TV, print, OOH, radio.
Led creative direction, assuring creative materials are aligned with the brand.

11. Photo Shoots

A photoshoot is a series of photographs that a photographer takes of someone, usually of a model or a famous person, to be used in a newspaper or a magazine. The goal of a photoshoot is to achieve a predetermined visual objective. Later, these images can be used for editing or post-production..

Here's how freelance art directors use photo shoots:

Designed covers, commissioned photographers/illustrators, and coordinated photo shoots.
Secure estimates for photo shoots, illustration and creative retouching bearing in mind budget, creative talent and Art Director preferences.

12. Adobe Illustrator

Here's how freelance art directors use adobe illustrator:

Work done in Adobe Illustrator and Cheetah3D as well as Skecthup by google.
Create custom design specifications for fabricated items to meet customer's needs in Adobe Illustrator.

13. Fine Arts

Here's how freelance art directors use fine arts:

Coordinated and lead extracurricular Fine Arts activities.
Managed the administrative duties of the Fine Arts Department including filing, organizing calendars, scheduling meetings and planning events.

14. Music Videos

Music videos are short films or videos that feature a song and imagery and are produced either for artistic or promotional purposes.

Here's how freelance art directors use music videos:

Directed, filmed and edited a music video for the song The Skillet is Hot for the band Twisted Knobs.
Employed on over two dozen short and feature length films, music videos, and commercials.

15. NYC

NYC stands for New York City.

Here's how freelance art directors use nyc:

Designed the poster for the Vienna Choir Boys Christmas Concert at Carnegie Hall, NYC.
Transitioned operation to the NYC based Image Bank office post Getty.

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What skills help Freelance Art Directors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What soft skills should all freelance art directors possess?

Elizabeth Sutton

Department Head, Professor of Art History, University of Northern Iowa

There are many--the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively is absolutely necessary. The ability to ask for feedback and be able to take that feedback and incorporate it into a process is very important. Of course, meeting deadlines is also very important.

What skills stand out on freelance art director resumes?

Elizabeth Sutton

Department Head, Professor of Art History, University of Northern Iowa

What really stands out is the quality of the student's portfolios and that they have client-based real-world experience.

What freelance art director skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Scott Foster

Associate Professor of Studio Art, Chair of Creative Arts Department, Siena College

Working on a team. The exact project might not matter much, although it's better if it dovetails with your interests or career goals. This could be as simple as volunteering at a non-profit to revamp a website or build an app to measure outcomes.

What type of skills will young freelance art directors need?

Brian Pirman

Associate Professor, St. Norbert College

For someone who is contemplating a career in graphic design, I recommend several things. One would be to develop a portfolio that shows a diverse skill-set. This may include expertise in design and layout, photography, illustration, typography as well as animation and video. If you have a more varied skill set, you are more likely to either gain employment or able to do freelance work. The other thing is internships, internships, internships. Having a portfolio of applied work (versus school projects), as long as it's good, will separate you from the competition.

Do you want to know more?

List of freelance art director skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a freelance art director resume and required skills for a freelance art director to have include:

Photography
Strong Work Ethic
Creative Development
Environmental Design
Web Banners
Adobe Photoshop
Graphic Design
Concept Development
Website Design
Creative Direction
Photo Shoots
Adobe Illustrator
Fine Arts
Music Videos
NYC
Production Schedules

Brochures
Adobe Creative Suite
Freelance Art
Sketch
Corporate Identity
Video Shoots
Motion Graphics
Adobe Indesign
HTML
Design Solutions
PowerPoint
Print ADS
Creative Vision
Logo Design
Print Collateral
Promotional Materials

Creative Concepts
Facebook
Creative Projects
POS
Brand Development
Collateral Materials
Catalog Design
Print Production
SEO
User Experience
Business Cards
YouTube
Print Design
CSS
Web Pages
Package Design

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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Freelance Art Director Skills

Updated January 8, 2025

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