What’s the overall job outlook for art directors in pharma? I know that there are always tons of copy jobs, but somewhat fewer jobs for art. For context, I currently work as an art sup in the bowels of the fcb network, and I’m wondering whether or not to make this my forever career. I’m especially interested in the perspectives of people who have been in the business for a while.

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My personal take is that pharma doesn't really quite understand what art directors do. You have much more overlap with design. I do think that is changing but it makes the role a little under appreciated.

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I’ve been guilty of this sometimes, but for me at least, it’s less phoning it in and more being totally unused to level of attention to detail needed. It’s a huge adjustment.

I’m in the same boat where I’m not sure if I see myself doing this in the long run. As of now, I see my current job for what it is—a job that I’m creatively good at. I have to keep reminding myself that it’s ok to not know where you want to be yet/ok to still be figuring it out. (Sorry if this doesn’t answer your question lol)

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I’m currently looking to move on to my third agency. While my current team is good, my account seems like a dead end.

To answer your question, I think art people sometimes have it a bit easy while our copy counterparts have it a bit tougher so we’re less likely to move then they are.

True. It also depends as well how much static work you do vs. film. I came from consumer so I've mostly done film. That's what I'm doing now in pharma, other ADs don't seem as comfortable outside of static stuff here.

In my opinion, it's not that there are fewer art director jobs. It's that they get filled more quickly, while the copy ones remain open for months. The good writers can snap up a job almost immediately, but copy is so specialized that some roles remain open forever waiting for a good candidate with the right qualifications. Meanwhile, art is more forgiving and so the pool of ADs is larger to begin with, and people are a little more willing to hire ADs with consumer roots, or people who come from design backgrounds, etc.

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