Art direction - what is it?

Dan has asked a tough but brilliant question.

Art direction - what is it?

I've decided to answer here in a highly personal view largely based on my own experiences. I'm sure some of you will disagree, feel free to comment below.

My first real job in advertising / design was as an art director.The Chairman of the agency was an art director who was taught at the RCA. An old school, very talented creative guy.

Once we were preparing to brief a photographer for a shoot. The shoot wasn't spectacular, it was an old guy walking through a wood. The Chairman made loads of great suggestions that morning that helped to form my opinion of what Art Direction is. Here's one example. I'd visualised the old guy in the photograph wearing dark blue trousers, the Chairman changed them to red. I protested, "Why red? Who wears red trousers? It will look silly?" His thinking was that the red trousers would form a nice contrast to the browns of the wood and would help the main character in the picture stand out. He was right. And it didn't look silly.

Somehow what is ordinary in real life looks lifeless in print or on TV. Visuals often need to be larger than life to just look ordinary. Images need the spectacular turned up to 10 to have any chance of catching your eye.

I'm not being very clear.

To me, art direction is just that - directing the art. Making sure the images you produce are as beautiful, meaningful and rich as you can make them. Great art direction can evoke emotion and is the difference between this

(Picture taken from jas | n with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

and this. Does that make sense?

The idea may have come from a copy writer, a planner or even the Chairman's wife, but the Art Directors job is to take that visually to another level. So if the idea is to have horses leaping out of the ocean a great art director will take this

(Picture taken from Eliya with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

and turn it into this.

So how do you get better at Art Direction?

For me you need to understand how the visual world works. Basic things like chiarascuro and golden section. You need to understand how to create drama with light and how to make a 48 sheet change pace from left to right.

You need to look at the great image makers. The great painters, particularly the really, really old ones, because in those days paintings were used to tell stories and are laden with visual symbolism.

(Picture taken from the National Gallery with huge thanks, usual stuff applies.)

Lastly, there are probably some decent D&AD books on the subject.

Dan - hope that helps. Anyone else got any ideas?

Comments

[Paul H. Colman]

This is almost as good as the kerning thing. Almost.

[dan at innocent]

Great reply. Thanks for taking the time to have a think, although it seems like you enjoyed the think. I will now go and investigate chiarascuro.

[beeker]

What a wonderful answer. I'd add strategic rigour, conceptual ability, and campaign thinking (in their particular advertising senses) to the list of the Ideal Art Director.

[Nathan Miller]

That's funny I always thought it was an aging member of an agency on a massive salary with no computer skills, a zany button up shirt undone to the second (or third depending on their silverback ranking) button that shows a bit of chest hair. Granted, I will concede that it must take time to trim said chest hair to an impactful level (not too bushy, not too gay) nestled as it is in some pearl buttoned Paul Smith number.

[jon]

good golden selection reading:
http://www.youworkforthem.com/product.php?sku=P0194

http://denimnews.blogspot.com/2006/08/proportionofblu-pictures-i-recently.html#links

[Ben]

beeker - I meant 'art direction' specifically as opposed to 'art director'. Which is what I thought Dan was asking.

Hope I got that right.

[beeker]

I'm sure you did get it right. I'd be incapable of the explanation you gave. My comments still stand for my version of agency art direction and art directors though - it's a very specific way of talking about a role, but I do think the best art direction has conceptual depth to it however you talk about it.

[daisybush]

You've just opened my eyes to a big mistake I've been making for the last two years since going freelance. My MA in art history from the Courtauld has given me incredible expertise and breadth of knowledge in the very things you mention, but because I assumed it was not directly relevant to many of the built environment jobs I now have, I tend not to reference it to clients etc. How stupid! So thank you - am working with an incredibly gifted web designer and will relaunch my site in November, so I will now work on rewriting or perhpas refocusing some of my "about me" text. Thanks again!!

[jeffrey]

what is art direction?

art direction is much like an illusion...what u see is may or may not be what you really see.

[kathleen]

it must take time to trim said chest hair to an impactful level (not too bushy, not too gay) nestled as it is in some pearl buttoned Paul Smith number.

My name is Kathleen, (crowd responds, "Hi Kathleen) and I trim my chest hairs.
It takes about 6 minutes with full focus.

Art direction is the salvation of small business. Anyone can buy ingredients, but Marthas cakes are different. It is the layering of compenents to interact with the chosen or created environment to emotionly reveal or accent the message through the visual medium.

Move the photos 3 centimetres to the left and the shadow creates dread and foreboding, to the right it becomes visual noise.

The cake made with CAFO safeways eggs cracked cold from the fridge are different from the cake crafted with fresh just laid today organic eggs, that were then stored in a cool place until they are resting at the exact same room temperature as the flour and the butter.

God, I need cake. And better art direction.

[Ben]

Kathleen, this blog needs more people like you.

[Chris Grayson, Art Director]

Funny how, thought the title has existed for ages, there is still a lot of debate about who/what an Art Director is. You give a good explanation, though I'd add to that Beeker's comment about 'strategic thinking, conceptual, and campaign-ability' as well. Those are often sited as the difference between an Art Director and a Design Director.

Stephen Hay wrote a piece several years ago for 'A List Apart', that I often see sighted when this conversation comes up.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/artdirweb/