Art directors do a lot of really cool, important stuff. They lead creative teams, generate dope af ideas, protect the design process, and develop the visual language of creative executions. That’s a lot, so for our purposes, let’s focus on just that last bit.

‍

Design ≠ Art Direction

An important distinction to make early on is that art direction is not design. Design is functional, executional, and (should be) invisible. Art direction is all about storytelling. When you think about brilliant art direction, don’t think about Jony Ive, instead, consider Donatella Versace. Boldness over sleekness, if we’re painting with extremely broad strokes.

Study the masters

Unlike in the ideation process, where you should think for your goddamn self, art directors should steep themselves in the world of visual art (plus motion and audio, while you’re at it). Make yourself an overflowing fount of visual techniques and motifs, and be able to pull them out on command. You should know what’s trendy (and why), what’s not (and why), what’s nostalgic (and why) and what’s sacred (and why).