Top Job Thursday

Become an Art Director

What Does an Art Director Do?

An art director oversees the art, i.e. the photographs and drawn images, that appear in newspapers, magazines, ad campaigns and on book covers. An art director is the person who oversees a design department, working with photo editors and editors to coordinate what images will match up with what words.

An art director also works on creating visual concepts. At a magazine an art director would work to create the specific look and feel of the entire magazine to ensure there’s a unified visual look.

Where Do Art Directors Work?

Art directors work throughout media in advertising, in book publishing and at magazines. Art directors usually specialize in one sector such as advertising or book publishing. At magazines art directors conceive of layouts and the art that will match up with the various stories in the magazine. At book publishing houses art directors often focus solely on book covers and hire designers to create those covers. An art director at some book publishing houses might also do some of the designing. At ad agencies, art directors, create the images that go with an ad campaign.

How Do You Become an Art Director?

Most art directors have degrees from art schools, where they’ve studied graphic design, photography and drawing. (A background in graphic design is usually essential for most art director jobs.) Art directors also need to know various computer programs (most run on Macs) that allow them to work with everything such at photographs or font sizes.

Art directors who’ve gone to art school are usually trained in the computer programs needed to get jobs in the field. Art schools will also provide candidates with a portfolio, which is necessary to land most jobs in this field.

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