[Goldfinger]

While I was surfing the net I came across this 3 page thread that discusses the subject stated in the title of this thread. What do you think about ? Are art directors still relevant today ?
It was a bit of a bummer to read this since becoming an art director is actually my aspiration.

The discussion:
http://www.designtalkboard.com/desig...opic,60.0.html

[art_director]

Don't believe everything you read.

[Randman]

I think art directors face the situation that many in the media face: The need to be flexible and willing to evolve and multi-task. But I don't see the position going anyway anytime soon.

[art_director]

The thread referenced above exhibits a number of posts from people who do not even know the scope of what art directors do.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Randman

I think art directors face the situation that many in the media face: The need to be flexible and willing to evolve and multi-task.

The same can be said of most every job out there.

[KeriVit]

in my opinion - we need art directors more now than in the past. So many are rising up the ladder with lack of skill, that they truly need the art director to help them and mature into "real" designers.

[kulverse]

I certainly hope so!

[andi*pandi]

I say, yes. But in lots of companies, the way the workplace is changing. In our in-house dept of 50, with 10 (mostly senior) designers, you have a manager, not an art director.

Which has it's good points, mostly we get to do what we want and support our own design concepts, but downsides, there's little support if the client decides he wants everything puce and "doesn't like that typeface with the angled feet" or something.

I do agree with that thread that titles don't mean what they used to--a previous job I worked with a studio who hired a 25 yr old to be art director. I can't say his skill was much more than mine--but he was aggressive.

Here it seems that people get promoted to senior designer after 4 years, whether they deserve it or not. And what's after senior designer, if not art director? That would be a manager level position, we can't have 10 of those.

[loki74]

hmm. Art Directors irrelevent huh? fancy ideas some people got. what an imagination.

They almost make it sound like all the AD does is shout orders while the lesser artists are the real creative minds. um, how do you say, not true? If youre an art director, chances are youre also an artist, and probably more creative and more experienced than the "underlings." With the world becoming more visual, and the fact that nowdays it doesnt just have to work, but it has to look good too, art direectors have a decent outlook i think. I mean, even if all they did was shout orders to creative people, they would still be needed, otherwise all these creative people would be being creative with no cohesion etc everyone would have a different vision blah blah = chaos. With the AD, though = order.

Also, and this is just because im into film and that sorta crap (im not sure if this applies elsewhere), in movies and stuff the Art Director is not the "head honcho"--he or she works under the Production Designer. ...i think. Oh well whatever. AD's are here to stay. no doubt.

[art_director]

Viva la art directors. Present company included.

[mitchell_pgh]

Generally speaking, Randman hit the nail on the head. If the Art Director is willing to adapt to ever changing needs, they are as valuable as ever. I feel the ones that have died off are the ones that didn't evolve over time.

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by art_director

Don't believe everything you read.

Oh, I don't actually. It's just that it struck me as weird that art directors were starting to get obsolete.

So what do you people think is a good job discription for an Art Director today and in the coming years ? The same as it ever was or slightly different ?

o/t: what did you study art_director ? You're an AD, right ?

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm a media coordinator and I basically do everything an art director once did, but more.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Oh, I don't actually. It's just that it struck me as weird that art directors were starting to get obsolete.

So what do you people think is a good job discription for an Art Director today and in the coming years ? The same as it ever was or slightly different ?

o/t: what did you study art_director ? You're an AD, right ?

If you believe art directors are becoming obsolete I have some land to sell you.

The role of an art director in the agency sense has changed, no doubt. But to answer your question we'd need to define the period of time. Are you talking about over the past five, ten, twenty or hundred years? There have been incremental changes all along in varying degrees of severity.

The link above takes you to a discussion of disgruntled junior people who don't truly understand the business. I cannot tell you what those people perceive an art director's role as being.

[Goldfinger]

I don't believe they'll be obsolete. I just wanted to point to a thread with a topic that struck me as being weird so I wanted a small discussion about it here. I really hope that they don't become obsolete .

Well I would say the role of an AD in the past 5 to 10 years. But I'm more interested in the role of ADs in the coming 10 years actually.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

o/t: what did you study art_director ? You're an AD, right ?

I studied design and marketing. In my mind there should be more marketing interjected into the art director's study. The ad schools churn out kids that scratch the surface but lack maturity and depth. The art schools don't beyond art and design. Universities offer everything but rarely link them.

In the agency world an art director must know about more than fonts and printing. In agencies art directors are part of the team that builds and defines brands, we're not just making pretty designs. We participate in focus groups, we help shape strategies, we sometimes write copy, we interface with the client and work as a team with the writers and support staff to serve our clients in the best possible way. Sure, that inculdes picking out fonts but that's a small part of the job in the agency world.

[Randman]

Originally Posted by art_director

In the agency world an art director must know about more than fonts and printing. In agencies art directors are part of the team that builds and defines brands, we're not just making pretty designs. We participate in focus groups, we help shape strategies, we sometimes write copy, we interface with the client and work as a team with the writers and support staff to serve our clients in the best possible way. Sure, that inculdes picking out fonts but that's a small part of the job in the agency world.

But the sad truth is that many people these days are named art director and are but glorified, yet mediocre, designers with delusions of grandeur and zero management skills.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Goldfinger

Well I would say the role of an AD in the past 5 to 10 years. But I'm more interested in the role of ADs in the coming 10 years actually.

In the past five or ten years the art director has had a lot of time stolen by the computer. While Photoshop and Illustrator are wonderful tools they've taken time that had been devoted to crafting the ideas and rededicated it to retouching low res photos and dropping real copy into layouts -- for no real benefit to anyone outside of the clients and focus groups. And, in fact, computers have hurt the agency business -- money that formerly went to salaries no goes into G5 towers with 5GB RAM.

In the near future I suspect art directors will be forced to vary their diet -- gone are the day of the art directors who only produce TV. Now we have to do everything from print to web to, yes, TV. I personally believe this will make advertising better. For reference I point you to the Mini work being done by Crispin. Multi-discipline, that's where the future lies.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by Randman

But the sad truth is that many people these days are named art director and are but glorified, yet mediocre, designers with delusions of grandeur and zero management skills.

Quite possibly the case, I can't speak of your experience. If you're working under hacks then it's up to you to change it. Don't complain, just make a change to a better place.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

I'm a media coordinator and I basically do everything an art director once did, but more.

Where the hell do you work?

[Westbo]

The problem today is "everybody" thinks they're an art director. At the top of the list are young inexperienced PITA clients. The AD role has certainly changed. It used to be 90% work, 10% explaining. Now it's 10% work and 90% explaining. :-) After 30 years, I still can't think of a better way to earn a living.

BTW, how many here can spec type? What's a stat? Fixative? Marker comps? LOL

W2

[art_director]

Westbo :: Thanks, I'm laughing out loud.

Wow, to spec type. That SUCKED.

I remember spending the better part of one summer making stats for my book and for small clients. I don't miss that but I do miss some of the cool stuff you can do with a stat camera.

Your proportions are off, my friend. It's 1% work and 99% explaining.

[art_director]

Oh, and marker comps....uggghhhhhh.

[Goldfinger]

Originally Posted by art_director

In the near future I suspect art directors will be forced to vary their diet -- gone are the day of the art directors who only produce TV. Now we have to do everything from print to web to, yes, TV. I personally believe this will make advertising better. For reference I point you to the Mini work being done by Crispin. Multi-discipline, that's where the future lies.

Sounds good to me . Anyway I think that these days most jobs require more and more mult-disciplined people, no ? I can't say that I really have an idea about it, still being a student... By the way, the Mini campaign rocks IMHO.

Originally Posted by art_director

studied design and marketing. In my mind there should be more marketing interjected into the art director's study. The ad schools churn out kids that scratch the surface but lack maturity and depth. The art schools don't beyond art and design. Universities offer everything but rarely link them.

In the agency world an art director must know about more than fonts and printing. In agencies art directors are part of the team that builds and defines brands, we're not just making pretty designs. We participate in focus groups, we help shape strategies, we sometimes write copy, we interface with the client and work as a team with the writers and support staff to serve our clients in the best possible way. Sure, that inculdes picking out fonts but that's a small part of the job in the agency world.

That's pretty much how I thought it was. And it fits a bit in my strategy of what I'm going to study. Last year I studied French and Italian (university level) but it didn't interest me anything, my French is fluent already and I speak a bit of Italian as well. I already have a basic degree in economics (got that along with my high school diploma). And next school year (in October) I'll probably start with my Communication Sciences course at university. Comm. Sc. here means studying all types of communication, politics, marketing, pr. And after completing my master in Communication Sciences: Advertising/Marketing I'll persue another Master after Master in something like mass media marketing, not sure about that one yet. Oh and the course also contains economics.

I wanted to go to art school but the schools scare me off. The teachers all have a superiority complex. When I said to some of the teachers that I wished to change from university to art school they all looked at me with a face that said "oh dear, an academic coming to do 'art' ". (art school doesn't exist at university level here) At that moment I decided, no way that I'm going to go to a school where they give you grades on the basis of wheter they like your face or not. And I've checked out all of the schools and they are all the same. I decided to take a more academic course that would also provide me with a backup - no way that a company accepts people with an art school diploma in non-art related jobs, you NEED a univ master degree these days over here - and I'll just hone my graphical skills on myself in the coming 4-5 years hoping that some agency will accept me on my portfolio alone (and not requireing graphic designer diploma) so I can begin as a junior designer and aquire experience.

Sorry to put down my entire life . But these are things that run through my head every day since these are quite important descisions that I need to make.

[kulverse]

I went to design school in '92/'93. Kinda the last years before computers took over. It's funny to reminisce about the days before computers, but fact is marker comps, hand-drawn text, and stats are no longer a factor. There is really no need to know this stuff anymore. Just like in the printing industry, soon stripping film will be something to laugh at. I still laugh when I see a stripping station at a printer facility I am touring. Anyway, I'm ranting and I no longer am involved in print design, but rather I'm a senior designer at a cinema advertising company. So to the point then...

The major issue I'm seeing here is not so much the AD's being useless, but rather the general population of new artists coming into the workplace. I hire my artists not so much based on exceptional design skills (those are easy to polish. great design skills are sufficient) but their understanding of the way things work (hierarchy) and their personality. I've shot down many cocky exceptional artists. Being cocky seems to be the rule rather than the exception. At least in my area. It's these cocky ones that are always questioning the way things are done. I digress.

I guess, thinking back to my first paragraph, that when we all had to learn all the manual ways of doing design/art, it certainly separated out the people that really enjoyed design and doing design over the people who just thought it's be a fun profession. Now with computers, anyone who thinks it would be a fun profession can take a class in their local Community College and get a job. I'm not saying thats a bad thing at all. I'm just saying that "undesirable" hot shots have slipped in, oversaturating the job market (i can't even begin to tell you how many resumes we get when we have an opening. It's in the high hundreds at least) and leaving peopel who really have passion and understanding of the profession in the dust.

I apologize for the rant.

[andi*pandi]

specing type is still a useful skill. See this ad from 5 years ago? no quark file on record? redo it. Find the font, make the size... in 1/2 hour.

I agree with the folks that say ADs contribute more than "make that 2 points bigger" comments, they are part of the actual creative process and work with marketing well. That said, there is a scale... for every AD at big agencies there is a AD at a small agency or one person shop, who does the creative... does the concept... works with copywriters and photographers... plus has to do all the lowlevel layout stuff. Is that person less of an AD?

Where is a senior designer to go if there are no more ADs?

[art_director]

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

... for every AD at big agencies there is a AD at a small agency or one person shop, who does the creative... does the concept... works with copywriters and photographers... plus has to do all the lowlevel layout stuff. Is that person less of an AD?

Good art directors do all those things for themselves.

[eyevaan]

This has been an excellent read. Thanks to all of you for your input.

My experience has been that it takes more than a degree to be an art director, you need vision, talent, experience [no offense to the aspiring AD - keep working it, you'll be a different person in 20 years], hutzpah, and an ability to sell... did I mention hutzpah? friggin' big ones....

spec type? lol

I was chatting with some fiends recently... they said they just rediscovered the pencil and artpad... I thought "What a shame..." turn off the computer once in a while, the art directors I know - do.

[art_director]

Originally Posted by eyevaan

turn off the computer once in a while, the art directors I know - do.

Big effing B-I-N-G-O!!!!!!

[Randman]

Originally Posted by eyevaan

My experience has been that it takes more than a degree to be an art director, you need vision, talent, experience [no offense to the aspiring AD - keep working it, you'll be a different person in 20 years], hutzpah, and an ability to sell...

Though you can be an AD without any of that (I can name a few). Or you can have all that and not be an AD in name (or pay). I know a few who fit that description as well.

[Westbo]

Originally Posted by art_director

Westbo :: Thanks, I'm laughing out loud.
Your proportions are off, my friend. It's 1% work and 99% explaining.

99% eh? And here i was being conservative... Those original AD Markers and Magic Markers were oil based and gave you a cheap high... And here I thought it was the work that gave me headaches. Hmmmmmm

Regards, W2