Designer and Art Director
In the world of advertising there is a powerful duo that creates everything and destroys it; the pairs. The core of advertising consists of copywriters and art directors designers, who are responsible for giving life to incredible and super groundbreaking ideas, but not everything is hunky-dory.
There is an error in believing that there are designers in advertising; no, designers do not exist in advertising. If you are (or want to be) in art direction, surely you study design, that is obvious, but to be art director much more is needed.
Internet defines graphic design as a "creative and technical activity is to convey ideas through images, particularly books, posters and brochures" it sounds quite logical and coherent to think that in the early days of advertising these were the fields to cover , but over time they evolved designers directors. Yes it be an art director is completely off the charts, industrial, publishing, etc. designers, who have a particular and specific task and ultimately end up developing a profile and skills appropriate to their area.
Beyond the word "director" I do believe that the position is indicated, manage or send, you should know that comes from being autonomous. That is to say; lead, make decisions, give line, set the tone, analyze, review, approve, know, realize, propose, verify, etc., etc. A manager always questioned, is curious, seeks, discovers and analyzes. These features should be inherent in each director; regardless of their position, rank or level.
If you're a designer and you want to be (or are) part of the advertising world you should be aware that an art director knows drafting rally, strategy and planning, photography, lighting, production, product design and a long, long list that headed by curiosity, research, development of ideas and especially autonomy. No more chingón director which is a reference library, is almost producer, photographer and yes, also has some designer.
In various agencies to art directors they are simply called "arts"; trainee, junior and senior, it is not until they achieve the "range" of "managers" who are called as such. That is an error. It is a mistake to limit managers to expect to have the title to start acting like one. To the extent that it starts and accept that a director of art is from the moment you decide to take that route, we will have more and better advertising pieces.
Being art director (and publicist in general) is open your eyes and ears to all stimuli and discover new ways of capturing ideas, it is to try again and again until it does, it is to have a vast technical and cultural knowledge that allows you to get as many people as possible. And you, are you a manager or designer ?, What do you want to be?
