Creative Director

A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well.

A creative director is a vital role in all of the arts and entertainment industries. In another sense, they can be seen as another element in any product development process. The creative director may also assume the roles of an art director, copywriter, or lead designer. The responsibilities of a creative director include leading the communication design, interactive design, and concept forward in any work assigned. For example, this responsibility is often seen in industries related to advertisement. The creative director is known to guide a team of employees with skills and experience related to graphic design, fine arts, motion graphics, and other creative industry fields. Some example works can include visual layout, brainstorming, and copy writing. Before one assumes the role of a creative director, one must have a preset of experience beforehand. Like anyone else, these types of artists start up from the very beginning in fields that can relate to motion graphics, advertisement in television, and/or book (or magazine) publishing. It takes years of experience and professionalism for an artist to grow and eventually take the job as a creative director. If one shows exceptional skills in visual and team leading projects, they may be considered to be promoted to the role.

A creative director needs to possess a wide range of general skills when working with projects that involve collaborating with a large team. The director is the lead person so he or she is in charge of what ideas and concepts go forward. In order to perform effectively, one must have a wide attention and listening span, especially with large projects and teams. It is the responsibility of the creative director to fully understand the ideas and opinions of his or her team in a respectful/critical manner (providing constructive criticism, turning small ideas into larger concepts, etc.). The creative director must be able to make decisions in a deadline driven environment in the most efficient way as possible. Coordinating his or her team in an accurate conceptual direction of where the project needs to go and involving their team in constant creative/brainstorming sessions is crucial. Also another important key part is being able to learn new skills and strategies from fellow workers and how to apply those to future projects.

A creative director is ultimately responsible for the quality of the final creative work. For this reason, they get the lion's share of acclaim when their team's efforts win awards, but conversely, the creative director shoulders the negativity (and the blame) when a project goes wrong, response falls short of expectations, or an important individual on the client's side dislikes or vetos an idea.