Difference Between Creative & Art Direction

Advertising campaigns can surely be complex, needing various strategies and intense sort of collaboration amongst the team members. There are various creative positions within a design studio or an ad agency and each is important for creating high quality work for the clients. The top tier talent that is responsible for the guidance for any project is by creative direction. The role of art direction is to drive the execution of the project. There various distinctions between these two roles.

Creative Direction Key role

The Creative director generally thinks in the early phase of the project to create the concept. He oversees the whole team and that consists of the copy chief, art director and the photographer. Majority of the creative directors usually work their way up by the ranks to be the CEO or the partner. A creative director typically has the final say on what is to be provided to the client. This important position looks after the agency’s talent or the studio and even steers its design philosophy.

Art direction Key Role

An Art director is the one who executes and delivers the strategy, idea or the concept offered by the creative director. After the concept has been made, the art director is typically responsible for the stylish design and look of the ad. He then thinks with his workers and then offers directions and great inspiration to the entire staff and it includes sketch artists, graphic designer or even typesetters. The art director aids in maintaining the consistency of the brand. He looks at the project by the production department and all other phases and that takes into account printing and prepress. The art director then might have the final approval for the project delivery only if there is no creative director.

Joint Forces

The creative director is relied on creativity and intuition to get the work done. He understands the advertising psychology and then works in creating a great vehicle to reach the consumers. Although the forte of a creative director is not necessarily the technical skills, he still can write a copy, do the designing of the logos and select the typefaces if it is necessary. The art director then relies on the technical skills for the execution of the project. Both the roles are a great compliment for each other.

Pay and Education

Both the art directors and creative directors require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in the field of advertising, design or fine art. The creative directors might continue their education to make the best job opportunities. In accordance with the labour bureau statistics, the median wage for the art directors in the year 2010 was around $80,600 each year. In comparison with that, the average yearly salary of the creative director was $125,000. 

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