I always thought that being a Creative Director was about advising the team on creative visions and controlling how those visions come to life. That was until I did my research on what being a Creative Director was like and found the two to be completely different jobs.

What’s a Creative Director?

“A creative director manages a team dedicated to designing products and is usually involved in every part of the creation process from idea generation through to setting the schedule, providing feedback and delivering presentations when the project is complete.”

*(Had to use Indeed’s definition because the job description and trying to describe it was WAY to confusing)

A Creative Director manages the entire creative process, maintaining the brand vision for the company. Not only do they make sure the visuals are good, but the CD also takes care of budgets, timelines, client relationships, team management, etc.
You’d think being a CD is the highest creative position until the Chief Creative Officer or Vice President of Creative pops up. But I definitely won’t get into that any time soon.

The main skills of a CD are being able to lead, communicate, and business knowledge.

Lead

Since a CD is managing the ENTIRE team of creatives, having exceptional leadership qualities is needed. If a CD is a terrible leader, leading a creative team towards a certain brand vision won’t be as much of a smooth ride or a good product.

Communicate

Communication is crucial as a CD since having to speak & sell to different clients the brand idea and tell the team what to do and how to do it. They’ll need to be able to give good feedback, motivate colleugues, lead, give presentations and so much more.

Business Knowledge

CDs not only need to be able to come up with cool concepts, but also how those concepts will translate into sales and good publicity for the business. They’ll need to know the budget and how to work under that, how to set up project timelines, how marketing works, etc.

other skills needed are:

• Pitching

• Presenting

• Making sure deadlines are being followed

• Leadership

• Persuasion

• Strategy development

• Hiring

• Multi-tasking multiple projects

• Brainstorming

• Coaching

• Coordinating with the team

• Public Speaking

Being a Creative Director isn’t all mood-boarding, conceptualizing, and creating. It’s more about having the ability to make sure the vision is in sync with the brand, leading a whole team of people, and communicating the brand vision & ideas with others.

How do you become a Creative Director?

Being an executive position, around 3-5 years of experience in graphic design, copywriting, etc. is usually needed. Its like trying to go straight from store clerk from CEO. You’ll have to go through the process of some type of entry job(could be assistant, photographer, graphic designer, etc).

A bachelor’s or master’s degree in arts is helpful but definitely isn’t required. Having experience trumps having a degree.

• Build a strong portfolio, showing off your conceptualizing skills

• NETWORK. (with other creatives)

• Progress through the roles (junior designer, senior designer, art director)

• Grow stong leadership skills since you’ll be leading an ENTIRE team of creatives

What’s an Art Director?

An Art Director manages and oversees all the visual aspects of a project, such as graphic design, photography, performances, advertising, etc. They’re the ones who create the creative concepts for the project and manage a team of artists to help bring that vision to life. This is a senior-level position, though it is lower than a CD position.

The main skills of an AD are being able to conceptualize, design, and direct.

Conceptualizing

An AD is the one in charge of creating the creative vision that will run the whole project. Big Ideas will be needed to create concepts from the ground up.

Design

ADs don’t necessarily need to be profound graphic designers or sketch artists, but they do need to be able to bring their concepts to life visually with sketches and/or Adobe. This is especially important when the concept is being pitched to others.

Direct

As an AD, having to direct a team of artists is crucial. Leadership and communication are required so that the team can all work in sync to bring forth the vision. An AD will also need to be able to communicate your concept to others through presentations, creative briefs, etc. They also need a good idea of how design works and what changes are needed to achieve a certain look.

Other skills needed are:

• Project Management

• Mentoring

• Reviewing and Approving designs

• Critical Thinking

• Being able to motivate a team

• Creating Timelines

• Listening to the CD’s strategy

• Giving feedback

How do you become an Art Director?

Lots of sites have told me that having a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree in visual communications, advertising, or design is best. But the main thing is having the skills and experience needed to become an Art Director.

You need to have a solid portfolio that shows off your skills and creativity. Develop the best fake campaigns and artwork/designs(paintings, drawings, packaging design, fashion design, etc). Be sure to set yourself apart in your portfolio to better your chance of getting hired.

• Be sure to learn Adobe Suite so that you can be able to put your ideas into reality

• Get an Art related internship

• Build a strong portfolio towards what ever industry you’re working towards

• Learn how to become a good leader. Strong leadership is required when leading a team of artists towards a massive vision.

• NETWORK. (with other creatives)

Now knowing each position more in detail, the position that I’m most interested in is Art Director. It’s more about the visuals and bringing them to life. I wouldn’t have to be tied down to only one position like a photographer or graphic designer but get to have a hand in every role.

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