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I’ve been “switching” back and forth my entire career. If anything I would think transitioning from art director to designer is harder. Formal graphic design training already taught you how to think and be strategic.
Show you can really think and connect the dots. It's one thing to know how to make things well, it's another to know what to make, and why.
If you're already in the right environment, it may help to start speaking out more and sharing ideas that come to mind in collaborative settings.
As someone who did transition, I would say, it helps to put my psychology cap on to understand consumers true tendencies to feed into insights that lead to big ideas. Great design is important but being able to work with a writer and generate scripts, headlines etc is a huge bonus. Your job goes well beyond pushing pixels. Oh, and and you better be able to sell your design/ idea with confidence and panache.
Take classes in concepting. If you’re in NYC, SVA offers a few solid ones at night so you can work during the day
go to ad school
One way is to go in-house
Show strategic thinking behind your designs in your book. Get really good at explaining why you did something and how that pushes the concept. I'm sure you have a ton of great work in your book you can talk about.
Assuming you already work at an ad agency: Take a concepting class (ad house, sva), get decent teacher reviews on your work, then get on every CD case at your agency and beg for briefs. Deliver.
Assuming you're not at an agency: get into a greatest ad agency possible as a designer and do above.
Or
Assuming you already have an advertising portfolio: ask for an internship at a best place you can, it's worth it.
Assuming you don't have one: make one, already.
Others: portfolio reviews, portfolio night, one club haatbp; young blond / new blood / young lions / young ones awards are your friends now.
Build a book of campaigns (spec is fine)
Show that you can think conceptually.
Don’t go to ad college.
The difference is the ability to be conceptual. Designers are executional, although creative at their craft. An AD is really, at their best, a good conceptual creative as well. You should be able to think visually, but also beyond into the campaign space. IMHO the best ADs are also pretty damn good writers. And if you want to make it to CD as an AD, you’d better write.
I don’t agree with CD2. Designers are not only creative at their executional craft. Designers are also conceptual storytellers. Designers have to create narratives and express (not execute) them in various mediums. I studied graphic design in school and my first job out of college was an art director job. @OP have you ever looked at a creative brief and thought “well I have ideas too, I can solve this too.”? I think you’ll come to realize you don’t actually need to “transition” because you can already do it, you just haven’t done it. From design to copywriting would be a “transition” but not from design to AD.
Thank you everyone 😊