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.
