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Art Directors Occupation Detailed Description

Art Directors career

General Job Description and Education/Training Levels for Art Directors

The main tasks and work activities of Art Directors are to design layout of art or product exhibits, displays, or promotional materials, determine technical requirements of productions or projects, review art or design materials, manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations. In general, for the Art Directors, speaking, active Listening, time Management, judgment and Decision Making and other 17 skills are required.
Art Directors Job Description
EducationMost of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Related ExperienceA considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Job TrainingEmployees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
ExampleMany of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, chemists, art directors, and cost estimators.
The following chart shows the education/training levels for Art Directors jobs.
Less than a High School Diploma
0.00%
High School Diploma (or the equivalent)
0.00%
Post-Secondary Certificate
0.00%
Some College Courses
0.00%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
9.33%
Bachelor's Degree and Above
90.67%

Tasks and Work Activities of Art Directors

  • Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
  • Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
  • Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
  • Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
  • Present final layouts to clients for approval.
  • Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
  • Hire, train, and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing.
  • Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.
  • Review illustrative material to determine if it conforms to standards and specifications.
  • Attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained.
  • Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
  • Mark up, paste, and complete layouts and write typography instructions to prepare materials for typesetting or printing.
  • Negotiate with printers and estimators to determine what services will be performed.
  • Conceptualize and help design interfaces for multimedia games, products, and devices.
  • Prepare detailed storyboards showing sequence and timing of story development for television production.
  • Research current trends and new technology, such as printing production techniques, computer software, and design trends.
  • Thinking CreativelyDeveloping, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Interacting With ComputersUsing computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Getting InformationObserving, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal RelationshipsDeveloping constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing WorkDeveloping specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Making Decisions and Solving ProblemsAnalyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or PeopleAssessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Communicating with Persons Outside OrganizationCommunicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Scheduling Work and ActivitiesScheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Coordinating the Work and Activities of OthersGetting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
  • Design layout of art or product exhibits, displays, or promotional materials.
  • Determine technical requirements of productions or projects.
  • Review art or design materials.
  • Manage operations of artistic or entertainment departments or organizations.
  • Coordinate artistic activities.
  • Present work to clients for approval.
  • Confer with clients to determine needs.
  • Select staff, team members, or performers.
  • Coordinate design activities.
  • Train others on work processes.
  • Collaborate with others to develop or refine designs.
  • Draw detailed or technical illustrations.
  • Write informational material.
  • Design layouts for print publications.
  • Negotiate for services.
  • Develop artistic or design concepts for decoration, exhibition, or commercial purposes.
  • Prepare production storyboards.
  • Research new technologies.

Skills and Abilities for Art Directors

  • SpeakingTalking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Active ListeningGiving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Time ManagementManaging one's own time and the time of others.
  • Judgment and Decision MakingConsidering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Critical ThinkingUsing logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • Complex Problem SolvingIdentifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Reading ComprehensionUnderstanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • CoordinationAdjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • PersuasionPersuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Management of Personnel ResourcesMotivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
  • Social PerceptivenessBeing aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Active LearningUnderstanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • WritingCommunicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • MonitoringMonitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Operations AnalysisAnalyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
  • Service OrientationActively looking for ways to help people.
  • InstructingTeaching others how to do something.
  • NegotiationBringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Management of Financial ResourcesDetermining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
  • Systems AnalysisDetermining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Fluency of IdeasThe ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • OriginalityThe ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Oral ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Near VisionThe ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Written ComprehensionThe ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral ComprehensionThe ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Information OrderingThe ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Speech ClarityThe ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Inductive ReasoningThe ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Deductive ReasoningThe ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Problem SensitivityThe ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Speech RecognitionThe ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • VisualizationThe ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Visual Color DiscriminationThe ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Written ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Category FlexibilityThe ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Far VisionThe ability to see details at a distance.
  • Desktop computerse.g. Desktop computers
  • Digital camerase.g. Digital still cameras
  • Digital camcorders or video camerase.g. Digital video cameras
  • Notebook computerse.g. Laptop computers
  • Personal computerse.g. Personal computers
  • Charcoal pencilse.g. Sketching pencils
  • Tablet computerse.g. Tablet computers
  • Sales and MarketingKnowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • English LanguageKnowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Communications and MediaKnowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
  • Computers and ElectronicsKnowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • DesignKnowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
  • Customer and Personal ServiceKnowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Fine ArtsKnowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
  • Administration and ManagementKnowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Sociology and AnthropologyKnowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.