What level of design capabilities do you/your agency think art directors should have? I find it varies quite widely place to place.

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This thread makes me feel super confident as an AD who knows how to concept well AND design well. My job is not a pick-and-choose of either, and anyone who thinks it’s fine to just do one well is setting a low bar.

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YES!!! 👆👆👆 DO YOUR JOB 👆👆👆👆

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Honestly, you should be able to do both. Great concept and design go hand in hand I think.

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ART DIRECTORS NEED TO BE GREAT DESIGNERS. I mean. Come on now. “Should a copywriter know how to write?” 🙄

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In big movies, a director and a DP (director of photography) are two different roles. One is focused on the overarching story, the other focuses on the camerawork. A good film director should have a working knowledge of the role of the DP, but doesn’t necessarily have to worry about actually doing it while filming, because the DP handles it. Of course, when the camerawork has an impact on a particular part of the story, you bet the director is going to have a heavier hand on the camerawork for that scene. In small indie films, one director often takes on both roles.

I said in another response that an AD only needs to be competent in design to make it as an AD. Never said an AD couldn’t do it. Where are you getting that from. Of course they need to know how to design! But the level doesn’t have to be a ten. A 5 is fine. A.K.A. “fluent,” not a master. This is at creative-led agencies. I can speak from experience, as I’ve been both a designer and an art director and I’ve been at more than a few creative-led agencies, and a few not-so-creative ones. When I was an AD, I barely flexed my design muscles because I didn’t have to. Inversely, I barely flexed my concepting muscles back when I was a designer. Two different roles.

The differences between creative agencies and some of the others, is that they respect the disciplines of art direction and design, and the importance of a conceptually-balanced art and copy team, plus the importance of having a separate design studio. It’s a world of difference from other agencies that mash up the AD and designer roles into one person. That situation tends to have imbalanced teams (note that I said “tends”).

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I was pretty much expected to work on everything from print to motion graphics given how small my team is. I realised if you show you know how to do something once, they’re gonna expect that from you every single time, which kinda sucks.

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@GD1 short answer, yes. I’m the only junior so I get tasked to do most of that stuff but I do work on AD for concepts too (albeit after all that). Feels like it’s just a rite of passage for any junior seeing as how another ACD on my team almost never touches any of the design tasks.

Sure, a high level of design always helps, but a general sense of design is all that’s needed. An art director is not a designer. An art director is a creative, closer to a copywriter than a designer. Like a copywriter that writes without words.

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Even a few people commenting here don’t even realize how they’re mixing up the two jobs. If this bugs you, switch to copywriting, you’ll get the same pay and will always be in the concepting side, without having to worry as much about production duties.

Always been told that Art Directors with Production Design chops are pretty invaluable (Ex. Comping skills, Cinema 4D, Sketch, Adobe Suite).

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Only at design led agencies like R/GA has design ever seemed like a necessary skill as an AD in my experience.

I do like design work I’ve only found it makes the job easier and more fun if I’m able to inform the idea a little more through design work.

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Depends on the type of shop or account. The work on my accounts range from TV to identity and because we are a smaller shop it is mandatory to have design capabilities.

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What shop?

Adobe CS at a minimum.

I’m late to the thread but new to fishbowl and newly graduated! I went to a university rather than portfolio school, it’s where I learned art direction was even a thing within advertising.

Unfortunately my schooling didn’t really help me develop design skills, I’m decent, I can comp things fairly well. But I guess I have a bit of the “imposter syndrome” because I’m not as good at design than some other recent grads I’ve met since working.

Any advice on how to get better? Certain programs that helped any of you particularly well? I love art direction, I love the people I work with and I’d really like to become a better designer. Thanks!

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