Advertising Art Director Job Description and Requirements

Art Directors control the look and feel of advertisements across multiple media ranging from TV and radio to print and digital. Essentially, you have to be able to make sure that your material is going to deliver the client’s message with an excellent first impression that encompasses a clever idea, visuals, and copy. As an art director, you need to be able to make judgments about every design element of an advertisement as well as the overall impression it creates.

If you are an art director, you can expect to be responsible for the following tasks:

• Perfecting copy with a copywriter
• Pitching ideas
• Refining designs to produce an effective advertising campaign
• Commissioning artists, photographers and other specialists to create projects
• Communicating feedback between your team and the client during edits
• Managing projects and operating inside a budget

The characteristics of a successful advertiser include high creativity, a strong understanding of typography and photography, composition styling, and technical requirements for a myriad of outlets. You must be able to develop concept designs for advertising campaigns as well. Your interpersonal skills and communication abilities must be on point. You have to be able to sell clients on ideas, but also communicate a brand’s voice and purpose to a creative team. You need the right personality to become an art director. If you are passionate about every cultural and artistic trend you come across, you may be right for the role.

Brands will approach ad with communication challenges, the art director will solve those challenges while appealing to the intended target. Remember, the client is not always right. They are coming to you for ideas. You may have to research, ask questions, conduct focus groups or interviews with their teams just to get a true sense of the brand and their goals.

How to Get Yourself on Track to Become an Art Director

Art directors are found in the fields of graphic design, advertising, marketing, publishing, film and TV, web design and video games. Often an art director will need a degree to gain entry into the field. After all, you tend to need mastery of one skill and familiarity with a wide variety of skills and other media.

That being the case, you can give yourself a leg up in this fun, but a fast-paced and highly competitive industry with help from Florida International University in partnership with Miami Ad School. This unique educational partnership brings you an experience in which you will get an opportunity to interact with a wide range of peers who can help you develop a network within the industry.

• Soft Skills Of An Art Director

In the workforce today, everyone needs to have soft skills to ensure a human-to-human experience. Also, interpersonal relationships at work have become very important to how we view the work/life balance and is largely dependent on these soft skills. Broadly speaking, this job involves managing a team of designers working on a creative project, but the degree of responsibility and autonomy can vary.

As an art director you must be a leader; someone who inspires and guides the vision of the design team. You have to be able to recognize the talent in those around you and learn how best to get the best from them.

• Hard Skills Of An Art Director

Art directors need to have a great portfolio, and preferably one that is constantly being edited for relevance and currency. As mentioned, there might be one skill that you have mastered but it is important to show your range. Give examples of great design, great photography, great copy, or even other things like smaller projects versus multi-stakeholder, large-scale proposals.

Also, never settle in the hard skills you acquired while getting your degree. Software tools are constantly updating. Set aside time for personal skills development for continuing education will see you at the top of your game for years to come.

Learn More About the Unique Educational Partnership of FIU and MAS

A good art director has to be open to the influence, and the expertise of the people around them, appreciating their talents, strengths, and weaknesses while maintaining a clear vision. Ultimately though, the role is often shaped by you, whatever you learned from mentors, and of course through trial and error.

Graduates of the FIU and MAS partnership program have flourished in the world of advertising all over the globe. When you study here, you do not simply develop a network with a student body gathered from all over the world, you get to interact with professors who have spent years in the advertising industry, and know exactly what it takes to get ahead in this challenging and competitive field. You will also get a chance to develop a portfolio of work that will show employers what you are capable of. Email program director Grizelle De Los Reyes at gdelosre@fiu.edu or contact us online to learn more.