Art director

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
See also: Artistic director
This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (June 2008)

The term art director is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in
advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Art director general role

• 2 In advertising
• 3 In film
• 4 In publishing
• 5 In Japanese animation
• 6 See also
• 7 References

• 8 External links

[edit] Art director general role

Various artists may create or develop specific parts of an art piece or scene; but a sole art
director unifies the vision. In particular, the art director is in charge of the overall visual
appearance and how it communicates visually, stimulates moods, contrasts features, and
psychologically appeals to a target audience. The art director makes decisions about
visual elements used, what artistic style to use, and when to use motion.

One of the most difficult problems that art directors face is to translate desired moods,
messages, concepts, and underdeveloped ideas into imagery. During the brainstorming
process, art directors, coworkers, and clients are engaged in imagining what the finished
piece or scene might look like. At times, an art director is ultimately responsible for
solidifying the vision of the collective imagination while resolving conflicting agendas
and inconsistencies between the various individual inputs.

[edit] In advertising
Despite the title, an advertising art director is not necessarily the head of an art
department. In modern advertising practice, an art director typically works in tandem
with a copywriter. The team usually works together to devise an overall concept (also
known as the "creative" or "big idea") for the a commercial, mailer, brochure, or other
advertisement. The copywriter is responsible for the textual content, the art director for
the visual aspects. But the art director may come up with the headline or other copy, and
the copywriter may suggest a visual or the aesthetic approach. Each person usually
welcomes suggestions and constructive criticism from the other. Ideally, the words and
visual should not parrot each other; each should enhance or enlarge the other's meaning
and effect.

This is not to say that marketing sense is not important. The ability to develop concept to
make the product/service that is advertised interesting is one of the qualities that
separates an art director from a graphic designer. The two professions overlap in what is
known as communication design, with individuals fulfilling both roles at the same time or
alternating between roles. Although a good art director is expected to have graphic design
judgment and technical knowledge of production, it may not be necessary for an art
director to hand-render comprehensive layouts (or even be able to draw), now that
virtually all but the most preliminary work is done on computer.

Except in the smallest organizations, the art director/copywriter team is overseen by a

creative director, senior media creative, chief creative director. In a large organization, an
art director may oversee other art directors and a team of junior designers, image
developers and/or production artists, and coordinates with a separate production
department. In a smaller organization, the art director may fill all these roles, including
oversight of printing and other production.

sada

[edit] In film
An art director, in the hierarchical structure of a film art department, works directly
below the production designer, in collaboration with the set decorator, and above the set
designers. A large part of their duties include the administrative aspects of the art
department. They are responsible for assigning tasks to personnel such as The Art
Department Coordinator, and the Leadman, keeping track of the art department budget
and scheduling (i.e. Prep/Wrap Schedule, as well as overall quality control. They are
often also a liaison to other departments; especially the construction, Special FX,
Property, Transportation (graphics) department, and Locations Dept. The Art Director
also attends all Production Meetings and Tech Scouts in order to provide information to
the Set Designers in preparation for all Departments to have a visual floorplan of each
location visited. In the past, the art director title was used to denote the head of the art
department (hence the Academy Award for Best Art Direction). On the movie Gone with
the Wind, David O. Selznick felt that William Cameron Menzies had such a significant
role in the look of the film, that the title Art Director was not sufficient, and so he gave
Menzies the title of Production Designer.[1] The title has become more common, and now
Production Designer is commonly used as the title for the head of the Art Department,
although the title actually implies control over every visual aspect of a film, including
costumes.