Are there any Art Director here?

[Chung Dha]

I am wondering if there any art directors here? And also want to know how they actually become one and how they feel the difference between before and after becomming an art director. And what they all do as an art director compared to other designers.

[Jochemdv]

Hi,

I know your feeling.
My big wish and goal was to become lead designer/art director before my 26th.
Its all about good work, showing initiative, making choices, knowing allot from the different work area's you have to work with and taking responsibility for the actions of you and your team.
The function art director and lead designer are used differently by each bureau. For example I could be a lead designer but still be working under an art director. My dad is a lead designer and functions as an art director at his bureau.

Now, I'm more of a lead designer, but my contract says art director. And i didnt expect this to happen so fast. I work as a lead designer on concepts and big assignments and run a webdesigner, designer and a flash programmer. The hierarchy on the workfloor is really relaxed and I almost never have to go and stand on my stripes.

So as an art director your still a member of the team, not the boss. But you're the one calling the shots in concept development, planning, communication with clients and contact with the bosses. All of that next to your busy job of designing and keeping up with the deadlines.

You'll have to know all about the expertise of your designers and when to jump in when they're off track.

ps
je online portfolio ziet er goed uit!

[Chung Dha]

Thnx Jochem, Actually I never had though about becoming art director but it just came to my way and its a big oppertunity. Also I had experience Hong Kong is a big heaven for designers, you got tons of store where you can buy designers materials. While in the Netherlands you often need to travel to the big cities to find good designs store with the correct materials.

Also I think I can do and actually get costumers easier there in Hong Kong then in the Netherlands, the Netherlands it is pretty hard to get into the main cirlce of companies which get the big pitches even wilt a good portfolio.

However there is a big thing I need to do is to learn those designers to have more initiative and creativity , seem they only are creative when they have a website they can copy. While you give a total new concept with very little info they can't copy they are pretty much a lost. I need to see why this is or that those guys are just not meant to be designers.

[willylorbo]

I'm not an art director, but i'm studying to became it

[Jochemdv]

Well if had to explain the lack (of a trigger?) in creativity and initiave I'd blame the superb discipline Chinese kids learn in school. They're like robots compared to Holland.
We are lucky to have the opportunity to free our minds here in the Netherlands.
But in China there is the strict justice systems, heavy censurism, etc.

And correct, the big bureau's are all in the same social circles, that will never change.
But what the hell! Thats nothing compared to working in Hong Kong.
You've got something to think about there. Hong Kong is a dream for many.
How did you get this opportunity and can you tell me more about the bureau and what they offered you? I'm curious!

[jecrt]

Great opportunity in HK! Things are getting HUGE there!

I used to be an art director. It was roughly the same as when I was senior designer, except I kinda had the extra responsibility of leading the group. It does mean being able to push off production work, though. A bit more creative/concepting. You still answer to creative directors/equivalent, though. I left that job to be a production/prepress manager (a lot of pressure but not much creative) Now I freelance as an illustrator.

[Chung Dha]

I was bit rolled into it cause my friend started a whole new company for shop reviews and I already did the logo design. Then he went to a chinese company to let them make the website, but they copied famous shopping sites like Amazon and the design were just plain simple nothing special. I just only gave him one new concept and that was it, they went bonkers cause they never saw it before because they can only copy design and not design something that never existed before. Then I thauht they could work it out further but now end up having to design all the pages and they will then convert it to a working website.

Probably this is already something close to what an art director also does though.

One other thing though the in HK and China they like to use CoralDraw instead of Illustrator but am going to take my tablet pc with me with adobe on it.

[Dongerz]

I was an art director for 8 years for a advertising and promotions company. I joined the company as it's first artist and as we grew I was the natural choice for the the position. After a few years and adding 5 artists I self appointed me as the creative director. I realized I was the creative director all along it's just now I had underlings to do the dirty work. Being a creative director you do just that, direct creativity. The art directors job is to carry out your vision, he is the creative director's general so to speak. I don't feel all artists have what it takes to be a creative director but I feel with hard work, good work ethic, and experience just about any artist can be an art director. You just have to be smart enough to direct the right tasks to the right artist. I hope that makes sense. As an art director you bring all the work together as if it was all done by the same person. That's the key to having a cohesive campaign. It can't look like it was done by a bunch of different people even though it was. Hope this helps.

[Chung Dha]

At the moment I had few sites that I had worked with a web developer but am not really liking it though. One was so ridicules that I had to show how everything down to last detail looks instead of just the overall design, even most simplistic things I had to show him how it should look like. Is it something like this as Art Director?

Or is it more that I could make a overall design concept with colors looks and the rest they should know how to fill in them selfs. Cause otherwise I would be designing the whole thing and actually be using allot time for even simplistic things and be explaining too much. However the team up were cross country , so I work in the Netherlands and other the developer was in America however they were amateurs who was chosen by the client. So might be better I can talk to the person my self and also get better team up.

[Dongerz]

ChungDha,

Yes, you are pretty much playing the role of creative/art director. Although it's arguable that the web developer is actually part of the creative team. Sounds to me like you have a technical guy that you want to be more in tune with your creativity. Not going to happen as you are noticing. He is basically the tool and you are the artist. You need to give him explicit directions as to how you want it to look and function. Being an art/creative director is more than being in charge of the creative team, you have to be able to convey the concepts accurately and understandably to the team. Good communication skills are a must!

When you are the only real artist in the group, you'll need to supply a model piece for the team to go by. For instance the overall look would initially be handed to the team as a rough sketch done by you showing the general layout, proportions, etc. Then, if you have a particular look you want for the buttons like a custom shape, you should provide a sample finished button that they can replicate or at leas another sketch that shows what you want. The more you give them up front the less you leave up to them creatively and the less you have to go back and re-do.

Now, If you are lucky enough to have a team of good artists( or even just one that you trust to guide the rest of the team) You can just give verbal instructions and see what they come up with. This is a true collaboration of creativity and wonderful things can happen. As the creative director you can still tweak and fine tune the design but with a good team the base concept and look will already be there. This is the key to a successful agency or firm. Hope this helps.

[Chung Dha]

The times I worked with the developers were each time without direct contact, it was alway me to the client and then client to the developer.

But I think I can manage a group though, I have been team leader each time at school projects even though sometimes they name someone else the later gave me the part cause I had most design experience.

However I think I should make a certain system so they would understand what I want. However I doubt I need to explain how a FAQ page should look like because all website got the same design which is the best. However I would rather not be only designer though I rather have a good group of designers who inspire each other.

However the worst group I ever worked with was a group who disagreed totally with my decisions and they totally choose things on their own taste without any thought about it. And pretty much the worst ever design were used and I could did nothing, was also a group that wanted more of them as input instead of all their designs becoming mines, while I have more experience and knew which design is best.

But for me becoming art director shouldn't be hard, just need to find the right system to work with. And might need to educate my co workers during each project to get the system right and also learn them things so they are one the same thought level as me. Cause after all those designers from China are bit in the baby steps of design.

I wonder how does the research sections goes within a design group, like looking at the competition and trend search. Can I just send of the designer to make a small report for or does the never happens and do I have to research this my self?

[geek]

I am with a team of 3 designers, sometimes we outsource - managing projects, meeting with clients, directing them and get to a lot of brainstorming and conferences all the time. I don't consider myself as a Creative Director though. That name maybe is too big for a small country like Brunei and a small creative agency like us. I position myself as Brand Strategy Manager and sometimes Project Manager. I established ProjectBrand last year that caters only to local clients.

How did I get here? (I hope this doesn't sound like bragging to you, I just want to share my experiences and hopefully inspire and give some insights)
I had 8 years experience in the industry, a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Advertising, studied short courses in Multimedia and Designs then worked up for a good portfolio, works in different Advertising and Print companies while doing freelance jobs, until one day, a business veins and creative brain bumped each other and an idea sparks. I made a pretty good feasible Business Plan and Outlined Marketing Strategy that I have presented to my one of my ex-bosses. (Which I know has a good heart, business minded and has an investment to start). He accepted my proposal and now working as a partner. I couldn't simply concentrate on the creative side alone now because business has a lot of things to look after to. I'm happy I took business course in college

Before all of that, I always have this mentality that 'there's no money in being an employee and following the 8 hours work everyday - quite a boring routine.' I do not want to be just a designer for the rest of my life. I need to diversify and do something different. I now also into currency trading (forex) and hopefully can go live by few months. I have other plans and dreams - one of that is to set up a kid's gym and turn it into a multi-wellness and fitness for adults with lesmills classes and technogym equipments which my wife is into that industry now. A team and partner effort to achieve that.

[Dongerz]

I think if you want a clear view of what's out there you can either have a designated person collect research and report back to you with their findings or do it yourself if your time allows. I would suggest if you are working with a team, you have the whole group gather what they think are the trends and who the competition is. This way you have a larger focus group to compare the similarities of everyone's discoveries. Discuss them as a group, this way everyone has a look at what's out there and the whole group can see where the project needs to go thus increasing the chance for a totally cohesive look throughout the group. Does that make sense?

[Chung Dha]

Research part is mostly collecting existing design of competitors, this shouldn't be a hard task for one person to collect. Otherwise could end up on several simular looking reports. Also don't think the group is always working on just one project at the time, so should be better divided instead of just using all member to research. But I do think after everyone received the report we can discus the plus points and negative points of existing websites for example and improve and have brainstorm session for the design using the plus points and improved negative points.

[Dongerz]

Research part is mostly collecting existing design of competitors, this shouldn't be a hard task for one person to collect. Otherwise could end up on several simular looking reports. Also don't think the group is always working on just one project at the time, so should be better divided instead of just using all member to research. But I do think after everyone received the report we can discus the plus points and negative points of existing websites for example and improve and have brainstorm session for the design using the plus points and improved negative points.

I understand that everybody's got their own thing going but I think it would be valuable to have everyone take 10-15 minutes to find 3-5 samples of what they feel the competition and trends are. It'll not only give you more perspective of what's out there but it can tell you a lot about your team and they way they think. Being a team leader you have to not only be in tune with the market but also who you are working with. You can still have the one person do more extensive research but also have the team do a quick scan off the top of their heads. You said you don't really know your team, well this is a great way to get to know them better. When you know your team better you can communicate with them more effectively. It also let's them know you appreciate their opinions and you are not just going to try and rule them with your ideas.

[mangoseedstudio]

As an art director you have to deal with the business side of design a lot more than you would as a designer. Depending on where you work, you may have to handle all client relations or maintain merchant happiness so sometimes its not all fun and games. Ive been a design manager and an art director and a creative director so its definitely a different ball game. The road to becoming one is all about your persistence and having set goals for yourself. Be prepared for a difference in your routine though, the people management side is a far departure from the straight "nose to the screen" design portion. If you can handle cold calling people and managing a team while understanding that you WILL be the "bad guy" then go for it.