Art Director Career Guide and Counseling

Question: What is the difference between an Art Director and a Creative Director? What is the difference between an Art Director and a Creative Director?

Answer: The spelling. Na, but for real, Art director deals soley with art. Creative director can deal with anything from characters, placements, art, etc.

Question: What is the difference between being an art or creative director? Are art directors and creative director the same?

Answer: Responsibility-wise they are fairly similar. In my experience art directors are generally more in the graphic design, television, and film fields whereas creative directors are more in the realm of advertising. There are a lot of exceptions, of course, but that is generally the trends I've noticed. Regardless, the two positions are fairly similar when it comes to responsibilities.

Question: What is the difference between a stylist , stylist director and art director when it comes to hair? I was looking up prices on the Barbara Daley website and the prices range depending on if your wanting a stylist a style director or an art director

Answer: the more expensive they are the better job they should do as they have more experience and/or qualifications!

Question: How do I become an Art Director in publishing/print or advertising industry? I really want to be an art director for publications like Vanity Fair or New Yorker, but I'm an architecture major right now. I realize that graphic design at art school will be the common path to that career, but can anyone give me insight into the actual becoming of a top art director? I'm afraid of venturing to that path because of fears of extreme competition and possible failure. Architecture for now seems like a safer career choice... But I really love designing graphics, organizing aspects of visual design, etc.

Answer: If you base all your life decision on fear of competition and failure then you will never find success. You will give yourself the best shot of success if you pursue a career that suits your talents. I tell all students there are three 'D's' to the road to success: Desire- you have to have a goal for yourself Dedication - you need to formulate a course of action to attain those goals. Determination - how many times you will pick yourself off the floor each time you fail to get to your goal. Success is a process and will not be attained in one fell swoop. Like all highly sought after positions, in order to get it, there will be a tremendous amount of competition and along the journey, you will face failure. Don't look at failure as a bad thing. As Thomas Edison once said, "I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward." If you want to work in the publishing industry, you should consider changing your major. You need to use your instructor's and school's program to network with professionals in that trade. Architecture is not safer than a career in publishing. In fact, you will be paid a lot more starting out and you will not need to take tests to qualify yourself as an architect.

Question: What kind of experience do you need to be an art director? Is there a general background one needs to be an art director for anything? (magazine, video, movie, website)

Answer: Usually experience helps most. You probably won't start out as a director...but hard work and impressive ideas will help build up your portfolio (keep up w/ your work and collect pieces to build this as it will greatly help). It will usually take an impressive college career OR an equal amount of leadership and experience. Keep updated on all of your programs and keep up w/ trends and technology information. Be eger to learn if you have a mentor or art director over you to learn from. Read magazines related to the field you prefer. Knowledge is power.

Question: What does a creative director or an art director do? What does a creative director or an art director do, and what would you major in to work towards one of those jobs?

Answer: See links below. They are very similar. I am both depending on the project I am working on.

Question: what for study i should follow to be a art director? Hey guyz any help.i want to know what for study i should follow to be a art director.

Answer: Art Directors are Graphic Designers who manage and direct a team... Visit http://www.graphicdesignforum.com for any info you need about a career in design and what schools you could go to. If you choose to register for the forum, be sure to read the FAQs for new designers you'll learn alot!

Question: How To Become An Art Director? Im a freshman in college and I was wondering what classes I should start taking in order to become an Art Director later in life. If anyone can help me Id really love it. Also what should I major in, in order to become an Art Director? Its for print and I guess film, but mostly print. So can anyone tell me the classes? I understood art but what kind of art? And what kinda of graphic design classes? Theres sooo many.

Answer: Take art & design courses. You'll have instructors with industry experience, so talk to them about your goals. No matter what classes you take, put in lots of time as a production artist so you know what it's like to work under a good art director. Work for an agency that gives you lots of experience with high-profile clients. Most importantly, detach yourself from the title of "Art Director." Write down what you think the position will be like, what you think you'll be doing all day, and so on. This way, if somebody offers you a position like "Director of Interactive Marketing," you can discern just what that means and compare it to your goals. It may end up being a better choice for you, depending on what you see yourself doing.

Question: What education do I need to be an Art Director? I want to be an art director. Either for a Magazine (prefirably a fashion magazine), or Advertising. I just wanted to know what actual education, and what colleges offer the classes I need. I know I need to be a pro in Photoshop, and photography, which are my two loves. Can you also give some average salaries too? Thank you

Answer: There are a number of ways to get to that position, but they all start at the bottom of the ladder. You will need a degree in either journalism, art, or graphic design, and you will likely want to minor or double-major in business or marketing. Pretty much any major university can provide you with those things. You will likely want to strive for at least a Masters degree, as well. Then it is just a matter of finding a entry level job at a magazine, probably a small local one to begin with, and working your way up. You won't get the position right out of college. What is more, it is kind of a luck-oriented position. There are only so many fashion magazines, and lots of people who want to be director. With a little luck and a LOT of hard work, though, who knows? Give it a shot!

Question: what is the difference between a set designer and an art director? i want to be an art director an i just wanna know the difference

Answer: The art director decides how it should look the set designer figures out how to get the look with the budget involved

Question: How to be an art director? Hey, so right now I'm going to school to be a graphic designer, but i recently found out they only make about 48,000 a year on average. I was looking at art jobs and art directors make like 95,000 on average. So what exactly does an art director do? And what additional schooling do i need after i get my degree in GD? i got the art director salary from several websites all giving the same ballpark figure

Answer: An art director is just a fancy name for a manager and they work in the same sense as the managers of any other job. I would like to know where you got that salary estimate though. In my experience that is exceptionally high for that position.

Question: Iam a graphic designer for the past 10 years I want to become Art Director How I can become One greatest? Iam a graphic designer for the past 10 years I want to become Art Director How I can become One greatest

Answer: what?

Question: What is it like to be a Art Director? i love magazines and art! so when i was looking at careers, art director looked pretty cool. can someone elaborate on this career? i don't really know anyone in this profession.

Answer: It's easy if you have about 5 years of experience. You need to be a Designer first for a little bit, then you can ease into an Art Director position. You would oversee all design work done by other people. Manage them so to speak. It's a great job!

Question: what should i study in order to become an art director ? i was hoping to art direct magazine. i'm in high school and dont know what subjects i should pick in order to become a succesful art director??

Answer: Art history classes and writing may be of use. Not exactly sure. Guidance counselors usually know. You could make an appointment and talk to them to find out exactly what you need.

Question: How successful can you be as an art director or starting out in art of advertising? Ive been planning to take up advertising art as my career. But how sucessful can you be while taking this choice of career?

Answer: Well, it all depends on which advertising agency you work for and who their clients are. For example,if you worked on the Wendy's account, already you are probably getting paid more --BUT, even better is if you had been the art director on the famous "where's the beef?!" TV commerical, you would not only be paid more but establish yourself and the value you bring to the artistic side of advertising. And, in closing, may I say just as an opinion? Nobody gets ahead by watching the clock and being a strict 9 to 5 'er. My neighbor was like that ...

Question: How hard is an art director's job? How many hours a week do art directors typically work? Do they feel a lot of pressure and stress? Is the pay worth the work they put in?

Answer: I was a creative director for an in-house team for a year and it was very rewarding. Stressful at times (but what job isn't). And it really depends on what type of company you work for. Art Directors in ad agencies will have a much heavier work load than an in-house Director.