Art Director

THE OPPORTUNITY

Art Director

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• Abachelor's degree
• Portfolio showcasing conceptual skills
• One-plus years of experience in an agency setting, solid creative art direction skills and digital landscape expertise
• Proficiency with Microsoft, Adobe Creative Suites and other relevant graphic design tools
• Demonstrated business acumen, ability to be a team player, establish an information hierarchy, work independently under guidance from Creative Director and other senior team members

CORE SKILLS

A conceptual Art Director for the Retail Team must possess an essential set of core skills that distinguish themselves for the unique needs of Automotive Retail art directing. An overview follows:

IDEATOR

Like the Retail Copywriter, the Retail Art Director must be an ideator first and foremost, with the added and requisite skills to visually render ideas to life. A visual thinker that can work quickly and efficiently under duress of deadlines. One that can also pivot ideation on request under extreme time-constraints [before & after regular business hours]. Strategic direction can quickly change, and is often subjected to market conditions, and global/current events.

CREATE VISUAL IMPACT

On many levels, visual impact is the fundamental job of a Retail Art Director. Matching images with copy.Nowhere is this skill more practiced than in creating layouts, key frames, concept-boards, storyboards, and all things to do with Creative Presentation Decks. As such, industry-required skills within the Adobe Creative Suite of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are required. Skills in PowerPoint & Keynote are also needed.

IMAGE RESOURCE EXPERT

Image resourcing skills for all needed layouts & boards are also at a premium. From internal and proprietary image sourcing, to 3rd party stock vendors, to custom-curated methods of collecting approved-for-use image-swipe, the Retail Art Director should possess an active and rabid proficiency in obtaining & implementing images. Decks and boards of various lengths and finish [key-frames to concept boards to full storyboards] are often needed on deadline.

CONCEPTING-TO-BUDGET

Both the Retail Art Director & Copywriter need to think big. This is especially true of the former, as the Retail Art Director also needs to think on budget. Matching visuals with copy requires an awareness grounded in the reality of budget-per-project. Not to mention a general idea of how much things cost, especially since the Retail Art Director is typically involved in several projects, each with budget differences, pending scope/scale of project, and source of Retail Client funding. As a result, achieving visual impact with less, is just as an important as achieving similar impact with all the money desired. At times, Retail Automotive Advertising budgets can be austere. The unique challenge of the Retail Art Director is to always impart visuals as if the project were fully flush with cash.

PERSISTENCE/STAYING POWER

The Retail Art Director must possess staying power, the ability to keep digging in the well for ideas and solutions to ever-changing directions. The Retail Art Director must have the fortitude to remain committed to the project for the long haul, to endure not only unexpected direction changes, but the multiple expected "tweaks & revisions" from the multiple layers of internal agency & client reviews.

ADAPTABILITY

No doubt, being skilled in adapting to the situation at hand is needed, almost as much as work that creates desire through images and their correlation to specific copy. For automotive Retail Art Direction is not just about the big idea. It's also about the ability to adapt designs and images to specifics.

Each assignment is a subtle [or not so subtle] departure from the previous project. Whether it's tantalizing the audience with product features & benefits, or creating a sense of urgency via design, layout or font, the multiple types of assignments will each require a different, but crucial set of design nuances.

From new Product Launches, Regional or National Sales Events, Disaster Relief or Community Support, Regional-Centric Product Campaigns, or Multi-Cultural Campaigns, the variety of Art Direction and design skills needed will no doubt challenge & invigorate the Retail Art Director.

MULTI-TASKER

Indeed, these multiple art direction skills are held to a premium and leveraged every day.

For the Retail Art Director must also be skilled in multi-tasking many assignments with pressing deadlines.(each with their unique requirements). Deadline management skills are as much needed day-to-day, as the ability to deliver useful ideas, and impactful art direction with stunning visuals.

Clearly, the Retail Art Director must skillfully assimilate as much information through briefs & requests. Drilling down to key points and key facts for big idea nuggets is a skill every Retail Automotive Art Director must possess.

FOCUS WITH CLARITY OF PURPOSE

Similarly, information needed may be incomplete, incomprehensible, or both. Knowing what information you need, is just as important a skill as knowing what information you don't need. Clarity of purpose & intent breeds efficiency...most useful in the Retail Creative Team where creativity is on demand and always under duress of deadlines.

ARTICULATE & SUCCINCT

Sharing ideas is an everyday part of the job. The ability to succinctly articulate thehow-what-whyof an idea is a skill and quality that every Retail Art Director should possess. Whether conveying ideas to your Copywriter, Manager, Agency Colleagues or even Clients, the Retail Art Director's ability to sell the work is just as important as the ability of the actual idea itself to sell the consumer. And given the existence of multi-layered approval gauntlets [internal & client], the ability to be clear, concise and articulate in conveying ideas is both useful and appreciated.

RETAIL ART DIRECTOR SKILLSETS

• Visual ideation
• Story Boarding
• Ruler-of-The Deck
• PowerPoint/Key-Note Decks
• Ruler-of-The Adobe Suite
• Image resourcing
• Create visual impact
• Strong sense of design
• Image Resource Expert
• Concepting to budget
• Persistence & staying power
• Adaptability
• Multitasker
• Purpose & Focus
• Work-Smart
• Articulate & Succinct
• Cut through Clutter
• Brand, product and legal guideline compliance