Artistic Director

The missions of the artistic director or artistic director (AD) are oriented around three axes: design, negotiation and technical monitoring.In the field of design, the artistic director provides a visual communication medium in the form of drawings, graphics (layout, volume setting). The DA can also create advertising messages in a written, graphic or audiovisual form. Several projects are developed. A project is materialized either by a model, or by a “rough” (visualization of the essential elements) or by a “story-board” (scenario of a film in the form of comic strip). The project is presented to the client. The artistic director, in order to convince the client of the effectiveness of the project, must rationalize his approach and find the most powerful argument. Finally, the last step, the technical follow-up. During this phase, the artistic director leads a team of graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, filmmakers, etc. He collaborates in the preparation and production of documents so that they fit well into the campaign optics set. He chooses the typographical characters of the texts, takes care of the framing of the photographs. He communicates to the model maker all the information necessary for the final execution of the model before printing.The activity is carried out in an office or in a workshop, alone or in a team, at home or in the company: drawing workshop ( publishing or press), creative studio, advertising agency. Hours are often irregular and linked to the requirements of the order. The activity may involve travel, especially in manufacturing workshops. Computer techniques such as desktop publishing (DTP) and computer aided design (CAD), graphics palette or computer-generated images are commonly used. Imagination, creativity, curiosity of mind, sense of aesthetics and drawing, gift of observation, intuition, are essential qualities. Technical versatility and artistic gifts combine. Like any creative, the artistic director must stay connected in order to have a good feel for his time, to grasp its evolutions and fashions.The missions of the artistic director or the artistic director (AD) are oriented around three axes: design, negotiation and technical monitoring.