A day of an Art Director
The role of an Art Director is a broad one, so every single day is different than the one before.
Art directors are Creative minds that help ideas come to life working alongside their team of creators and designers. Art directors turn ideas into designs that are capable of drawing attention or seem appealing to people whom they target. To put it more formally, Art Director are skilled professionals that provide ideas and design skills to Creative projects while growing and pushing it until it’s the best that it can be.
So, all in all, it’s someone who sees through the entire Creative project from start to end.
What does a day in my life look like?
I usually set my alarm as early as 6 AM. Early mornings always set my mood as it gives me more time to get myself prepped for the day ahead,
You must have heard that staring at a screen is not the best way to start your day. But this changes when you’re part of the Creative industry, and because of the people and profiles I follow on my Pinterest, Instagram or Behance, I’m always inspired on my news feed. And this helps me see what the design world is up to. The insights and inspirations I gain from this, always helps me do new and better things for my clients and improve my own ideas.
Once I’m awake and caffeinated I do a bit of working-out at home. Few mins at the treadmill and a bit of stretching, push-ups and sit-ups usually helps me keep my body just as sharp as my mind. Not forgetting that physical exercise can actually boost my Creativity.
On the days I don’t feel like getting active, I head over to my home office and work on my mind, writing and scribbling helps bring peace to my head and helps me see my ideas more clearly and in a brand new perspective.
After my breakfast, I reply to my emails and check my calendar to see what events or meetings I have for the day. This helps me to have a rough sketch of how my day is going to be
I usually roll into work at around 8.30 – 9.00 AM, on Mondays the team and I have a weekly planning meeting so we have the rest of the week to implement what’s discussed. As an Art Director I lead the discussion on what needs to get done. This is also the meeting where we brainstorm for new ideas and discuss how are current projects can improve.
After the meeting, I recollect my thoughts and plan out my own tasks for the week. I open my organizer and plan my To-Do. Usually I have a couple of client review meetings to attend before noon, to get our work approved for a go-ahead, or of course to discuss any changes that needs to be done. Followed by more briefing meeting with new clients in the afternoon.
Afternoon
Most days I go down to my favourite spot in the city to grab a quick lunch and on days that I have to stay at office, I simply order my food. And I make myself a hot coffee (yes we have unlimited coffee at work – perks of working in the Creative industry) to fight the 3.00 PM slump and sink myself for a long afternoon of work.
Usually at this time of the day, I focus on content creation and working on client reviews which takes up a lot of brain power, so I close my door and focus on my tasks this helps me work uninterrupted and free from the any distraction. But as an art director, I’m available anytime for my team for a chat regarding any important clarifications or any roadblocks they may hit trying to implement the discussed work.
Evenings
Usually, tight deadlines makes a Creative team work till late. At around 7.00 PM we take a break from work and gather in the hangout lounge to either play video games or just chit-chat, over a pizza! (Our convos are super interesting and can get really weird for a normal person btw!)
When I return to my desk, I check my emails again and reply the ones that need my attention. And by the now, if I still have some creative juice left in me, I do a few more tasks and wrap up any remaining to-do’s and close up any open thoughts.
Along with that, I give the team my feedback on the day’s work, so when they come in the next day they have a clear view of what needs to be done next. And that is the end of my work day, after which I either head home or join a panel discussion at a Creative’s club before I call it a day.
So how exactly can you become an Art Director?
Well, there are several career pathways you could take in order to achieve that goal of becoming a well-known Art Director.The most common and popular path is to first earn a qualification in one of the art and design fields, like Graphic Design, Digital Media or photography.
Next, you need to gather work experience and build yourself a strong portfolio good enough to get you there, depending on which industry you chose to study you can gain the necessary experience (usually 5 years or more years of experience).
Art Directors have their work cut out for them and the only thing that keeps them going is their dedication to the job role and their passion to create and experiment on new content every day!