MightyRecruiterYou’ll oversee the work of designers and artists creating work for our advertising firm. Your insight will be instrumental in deciding on the overall message and style of our clients’ work and our company image. At the beginning of each project, you’ll convey your vision as well as the client’s vision to our artists and make sure all work produced adheres to that vision.
Art Director Job Responsibilities and Roles
Follow production, quality and customer-service standards in order to meet work standards.
Train, mentor and supervise designers, artists and other employees when necessary.
Ensure clients remain up-to-date on the status of their orders during weekly meetings.
Implement cost-saving measures whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Present final products to clients for approval.
Meet with clients to get a solid idea of their visions for their projects and make suggestions when appropriate.
Develop art concepts when necessary and convey them to clients and staff members.
Decide on the specific images, design elements and photographs to use in a project.
Remain up-to-date on the latest advertising and marketing trends and technology and seek out ways to implement them in future projects.
Conduct research on concepts and illustrative material
Art Director Skills and Qualifications
- Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts in a design or art subject
- At least five years experience in a marketing and/or advertising firm as a graphic designer or artist
- Strong graphic design skills
- Knowledge of current industry tools and technology, such as Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Apache Software Foundation Flex
- Solid and proven communication, leadership, resourcefulness and time-management skills
Company Profile
Draper & Kensie Advertising was founded in 2003 with the idea that advertising and marketing don’t have to be impenetrable or tangled concepts that are only understood by a select few. Instead, the company seeks to show clients that advertising and marketing their products and services is as simple as giving customers what they want and doing so in a way that’s easily understood. Rather than focusing on the various facets of marketing and advertising, founders Adam Draper and Perry Kensie sought to create a company that focused mainly on the visuals, which is where the marketing and advertising process all starts.
Writing a Job Description Best Practices
Even though it’s always nice to have an art director job description sample to refer to while you’re drafting your own description, there might be times or circumstances where you’re simply unable to follow an outline. Know that there are a few fundamental practices and suggestions that can help you fill in any blanks you might have during the process.
DO remember to use bullet lists whenever possible. This gives your description an easy-to-read and scannable appearance, which readers will undoubtedly enjoy.
DO lead with the most important information and aspects of the job. This saves applicants time and makes it easy to understand what your company considers to be the most important about the position.
DO make sure you’re transparent and direct. Make it plain what you want from an art director and what you can supply as an employer. Doing so helps eliminate the risk of receiving cover letters and resumes of unqualified applicants.
DON’T forget to mention your company’s geographic location. Something else you might want to touch on in the job description is whether you’re open to out-of-state applicants and whether you’ll provide either a relocation package or relocation assistance.
DO give solid examples of your overall company culture, work environment and company mission. Let candidates decide if their professional goals line up with yours and if they have personalities that are a good fit for your current staff and business model.
DON’T forget to include contact information in case individuals have questions. You should also mention how applicants can submit materials and how long the opening is available for.
Art Director Job Responsibilities
In order to attract the type of candidates you are looking to hire, you need to have a strong job responsibilities section of your art director job description. Taking time to ensure this section is well-written and professional can give potential employees an accurate idea of what you will require them to do and what qualifications you’re looking for.
To help make sure applicants can easily read and understand the responsibilities written in your art director job description, use bullet points to outline your information. Using an action verb to begin each bullet point and including 6-8 bullets are other ways to make potential art directors eager to apply for your open position instead of discouraged by a long list of duties.
Read over these examples of art director job responsibilities for ideas on how to write your own.
- Communicate daily with clients and department heads to discuss concepts and requirements for projects
- Maintain awareness of budgets and schedules for each project to ensure efficiency
- Create layouts and specify materials to achieve the desired effect specified by the client
- Design custom graphic elements or illustrations when necessary
- Negotiate with vendors including printers and estimators to decide on services and pricing
Art Director Job Specifications
It may seem simple to type up a basic list of job qualifications and skills, but you can save yourself the time and trouble of dealing with the wrong type of applicants if you craft this section carefully. By choosing your words wisely and being strategic about listing exactly what you’re looking for in potential employees, you can eliminate applicants who may be a poor fit.
While this section should include a list of minimum prerequisites demanded by the position, you can separate them into art director job specifications that you require and those that you would prefer. This enables your art director job description to appeal to the appropriate candidates and allows them to make an informed decision about whether or not they are qualified to apply.
Here are some examples to consider including in your art director job description:
- Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media, Visual Communications or Fine Art
- Five or more years of experience in the graphic design or illustration industry
- At least three years of previous experience in a leadership or management role
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills, especially as they apply to client relations
- Complex problem-solving and creative abilities as they relate to project issue resolution
