Art Director

What is an Art Director?

We make advertisements across a multitude of channels look amazing through the use of design, colour, photography, illustration and more. We tend to be people who love painting, drawing, taking photos, and other visual ways of expressing ourselves.

 

“There’s no such thing as a ‘typical day’ (which I love!). Some days I’m brainstorming with my writing partner, some days I’m rocking out to music while photoshopping, and other days I’m on set or editing.”

Meagan E.

This is what I do most days…

I work with my copywriting partner to dream up the coolest things we could make, all while answering the client brief. (IMO the best ideas always sound the craziest from the beginning.)

I imagine...

I often start by pulling visual references from the web, Instagram, Pinterest, other advertising archives and then go from there!

I design...

I build out all the work in Keynote, Photoshop and all the other creative cloud programs to sell the campaign through to the client.

I build...

In their own words:

Growing up, I always enjoyed art and being creative, but never really thought it could be a career until university. I was taking accounting and it was super boring, so I decided to re-think my future goals. I started studying Art & Design at George Brown, and eventually landed a gig in advertising.

 

Greg R.

A decision you make about school when you’re younger doesn’t mean the rest is written in stone. Just pick something you’re interested in. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll have gained skills that you can apply to your next job or adventure!

 

Meagan E.

I always had a passion for art and design. I chose this role because you get to be creative every single day.

 

Andrea P.

Thinking about becoming an Art Director?

Explore some of the skills you’ll need

to prepare for the role. 

  • Drawing, sketching, design  
  • Animation  
  • Photography  
  • Understanding colour theory  
  • Being able to adapt and learn new digital programs  
  • Ability to use platforms like Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom, Illustrator 
  • Ability to think conceptually and visually  
  • Communication skills 
  • Multitasking abilities 
  • Portfolio to showcase artistic abilities  

If you think a job as an Art Director might be right for you, print off your Job Report and take it to a parent, teacher or guidance counsellor to talk about what your next steps should be.

PRINTABLE JOB REPORT