Advertising Art Director

Typical Salary

£18,000 To £100,000

Typical Hours

38 to 40 a week

evenings occasionally

How To Become a Advertising Art Director

You can get into this job through:

a university course
working towards this role
graduate trainee scheme

College / University

Employers will often expect you to have a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in:

graphic design
advertising design
illustration
fine art

1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma

2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship are not listed for this job.

Routes into this Career

You can start as a junior creative to develop your skills on the job and work your way up through training and promotion.

Other Routes

In larger advertising agencies, you may be trained through a structured graduate scheme, if you have a relevant degree.

Skills And Knowledge

You'll need:

knowledge of media production and communication
the ability to sell products and services
knowledge of English language
to be thorough and pay attention to detail
excellent verbal communication skills
thinking and reasoning skills
the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
the ability to organise your time and workload
to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

Day To Day Tasks

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

working closely with a copywriter to create original ideas that fit your client's brief
producing storyboards (for TV commercials) or sketches of your ideas
presenting the ideas to the agency’s creative director and account team
helping present ideas to the client
making any changes that the client asks for
hiring graphic designers, artists, photographers or film companies to produce the artwork or TV ads
choosing studios or locations and attending photo or film shoots
making sure that budgets and deadlines are met
overseeing the final editing of the finished adverts.

Working Environment

You could work at a recording studio, in an office or at a client's business.

Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time.

Career Path & Progression

With experience, you could progress to senior art director or creative director.

You could also work freelance or set up your own agency.

Some art directors move into directing for TV or film.

Volunteering Opportunities

You could get some experience before applying for your first job. This will give you a better understanding of the industry and is a good way to make useful contacts.

You can contact agencies directly to ask about placements, and make industry contacts through relevant groups on social networking sites like LinkedIn. You can get more advice on how to approach advertising agencies from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

Tips & Information

Career tips

Your creativity and ability in art and design are the most important things to many employers.

When looking for jobs, you'll need to show a portfolio or 'book' of your work to potential employers, as you'll be employed on the strength of your artwork and ideas.

Further information

You can find out more about careers in advertising from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and Discover Creative Careers.

Restrictions & Requirements

Restrictions & Requirements are not listed for this job.