The Art Director

John L Sellers

A 11 advertising agencies have one or more art directors; large agencies have
substantial numbers. The primary responsibility of the art director (AD)
is the planning and execution of the visual appearance of each element in an
advertising campaign, print or television. Before ADS begin any creative work,
they make sure they thoroughly understand the product or service being
advertised, the objective of the advertising effort, and the target audience. This
information usually comes from the research department, the account plan-
ning department, an account executive, or a creative director, depending on
the size and structure of the agency. Good ADS intuitively understand what to
do with that information.
An AD normally works with a copywriter, as a team, first to develop rough
sketches of ideas (roughs), being careful to assure that the verbal and visual
concepts complement each other, and that the mood and design of each sketch
make the intent of the advertisement or commercial instantly apparent and
intriguing to the reader or viewer who is the target audience. When the best
sketches have been chosen, the AD develops more finished, full-size layouts
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and selects the headline and body typefaces, the illustrative medium (type,
photography, illustration), colors, and so on. He or she then executes compre-
hensive drawings (comps) or storyboards, usually with felt-tip markers, but
increasingly with computer-generated graphics, to approximate closely the
look wanted in the finished pieces. When one or more of the comps have been
approved by the creative director and the client, the AD chooses and hires
either the photographers or illustrators he or she believes can most compe-
tently produce the image planned for a printed piece or the director who can
best produce the mood and image desired in a commercial. The AD then
supervises the execution of the image, usually participating in the selection
of models or actors (talent) who will appear. In the choice of outside talent,
the copywriter with whom the art director works also contributes an informed
opinion. Many agencies also employ television producers who relieve the AD
of the supervision of the film production.
Once the images are created, the AD supervises the assembly of' the print
advertisements, making sure each is the right dimensions, and that the agency
intentions are accurately expressed in television productions. The actual
assembly of print advertisements may be completed by an assistant art
director, by the production department of the agency, or by the AD. For a
commercial, the assembly is done by a television production house. Often, a
particular print advertisement will appear in several publications of different
sizes, formats, or proportions, and with different mechanical requirements.
The same visual image may be destined for several different media, such as
magazine ads, newspaper ads, billboards, television commercials, displays,
and packages, and adjustments must be made to ensure that each piece is the
precise size and proportion needed for the intended medium.
When the images are finally designed and assembled, and finally approved
by the client (and often researched), the finished ads and commercials are
turned over to the traffic department of the agency for distribution to the
appropriate media. The traffic department works closely with the account
executives and "polices" the work that goes through the agency.
An AD and a copywriter usually work as a team on specific accounts. This
team is sometimes referred to as a marriage, because the AD and the copy-
writer are so dependent upon one another. If the image produced by the AD
fails to attract the eye of the intended viewer, or if the copy is designed so that
it is difficult to read, the copy, no matter how superb, will not be read. By the
The Art Director 63

same token, a spectacularly attractive ad may suffer if the copy doesn't live
up to the promise of the visual. A team that works well together will create a
concept that is visually attractive, verbally compelling, persuasive, and memo-
rable. The team's objective is to create a campaign that will leave the consumer
saying, "I need that, now," by convincingly pointing out the brand's advan-
tages or by using other techniques, such as humor or emotion.
Senior ADS in larger agencies often supervise several assistant ADS and
normally report directly to an associate creative director. In smaller agencies,
senior ADS report to the creative director (CD), who is responsible for the
overall creative efforts for the agency's clients. When an AD has mastered the
craft, he or she is ready to be promoted to senior AD. If the AD also becomes
an excellent copywriter or critic of copy-and in particular demonstrates
conceptual skills-he or she may be ready to be promoted to associate creative
director and assume responsibilities for total campaign ideas.
A good AD is an artist with type and images. There are literally thousands
of styles of lettering and typefaces available, for instance, each of which
projects a slightly different mood or feeling. A good AD will develop an
instinctive and automatic appreciation for the characteristics of each of those
typefaces and an expertise in selecting the right one for each purpose intended.
Here is a parable that originated some time ago at J. Walter Thompson,
London. The reader is invited to think of the appropriateness of type or
lettering style for two different signs. One offers a service (flying lessons);
the other offers a product (fresh eggs). A viewer would be likely to believe
that the "fresh eggs" offered on a hand-scrawled sign, on perishable corru-
gated cardboard, with wet paint still running, would indeed be fresh. The
"flying lessons" offered in Helvetica (a "no-nonsense" and precise type face)
would probably be considered safe and trustworthy. Reverse the typefaces,
however, and the consumer's response will change, with disastrous conse-
quences. The egg sign would certainly look less believable-less fresh-when
lettered in Helvetica. And it would be a desperate person indeed who would
respond positively to a hand-scrawled sign on cardboard offering flying
lessons.
This example is extreme, but it is true that different typefaces influence
viewers in slightly varying ways. Some typefaces are more or less warm,
honest, and friendly, whereas others are more or less cold, technical, and
precise. Each has its perfect use, and one of the AD'S jobs is to specify the
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typeface that will elicit the desired response from the consumer with whom
the advertisement is trying to communicate.
The same holds true for the selection of photographic or illustrative styles.
An outstanding AD, like an outstanding painter, seems to select the appropri-
ate visual imagery for every audience and purpose effortlessly, whereas an
inept or heavy-handed one invariably produces images that leave the viewer
vaguely uncomfortable, unmoved, or unconvinced. An outstanding AD con-
sistently produces visual images that leave the intended viewer with an
overwhelmingly positive attitude about the ad-and the product or service
being advertised.
Although most effective advertising is the result of team effort, some cam-
paigns are identified as art director's campaigns, whereas some are identified
as copywriter's campaigns. An outstanding current, yet long-running example
of one identified as an art director's campaign is that for Absolut Vodka,
produced by the TBWA agency (now TBWA Chiat/Day). This is described at
the end of this chapter.
Whereas in the past many advertising ADS achieved prominence with little
or no formal advertising education, most advertising ADS now receive their
education at art schools such as Pratt, Parsons, the Art Center School, and the
School of Visual Arts or at universities such as Syracuse University or the
University of Texas, where advertising design education is supplemented with
broad liberal arts studies and also computer instruction, and where the objec-
tive is to educate students to be potential CDs. Part of the overall trend toward
specialization is the result of advertising agencies' increasing need for young
art directors who require little or no additional training in the use of comput-
ers. Whereas a few years ago excellent conceptual ability alone was enough
to ensure a job for a recent graduate, agencies now recruit assistant ADS who
are technically proficient as well. This trend will probably continue until the
current senior ADS become computer proficient and no longer need techni-
cians to execute their concepts.
Just as the widespread development of commercial television in the early
1950s changed the traditional role of the print-oriented art director, the
phenomenal development in computer and communications hardware and
software in the past decade has dramatically changed the working habits of
art directors in the 1990s. In the early 1980s, not one advertising AD in a
thousand used a computer for design or execution, but by the late 1990s, most
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ADS use computers on a daily basis, and young designers without computer
literacy are virtually unhirable.
Powerful computers with user-friendly graphical interface, such as the
Macintosh, and software such as Aldus PageMaker and QuarkXPress give art
directors the capability of rapidly trying out and testing an almost limitless
number of design and type variations. Color printers enable them to execute
a number of those variations with little need for time-consuming handwork.
Similarly, time-based software programs enable proficient ADS to operate
inexpensively to produce and present animatics-"roughs" of television com-
mercials+omplete with motion and sound. As hardware and software con-
tinue to improve, it is anticipated that art directors will become deeply
involved in designing and producing interactive videos for their clients, which
will be played back by consumers on CD-ROMs, VCRs, and home computers,
in addition to the traditional advertising media.
These watershed technical developments are reducing the numbers of
persons needed to produce advertisements, requiring fewer assistants, produc-
tion people, and outside suppliers, but the creative role of the versatile art
director is becoming ever more important. As consumers read less and watch
more, the artistic ability to conceive and produce powerful and persuasive
visual communications and images will inevitably become an even more
necessary and valuable commodity. Furthermore, the current trend toward
global advertising, where a commercial, poster, or other image is expected to
work equally well in countries where different languages are spoken, makes
the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" take on new meaning.
Art directors will be called upon to create ever-more-important transcendent
and universal visual images.