Creative Directors Oversee the Creative Staff at an Ad Agency
The creative team develops the visual concepts and presentations of advertising. This team usually consists of a copy chief, an art director, and associated staff. The creative director collaborates with and leads the creative staff while reporting to the advertising manager, who oversees the entire operation.
Creative directors’ main role is to oversee the design aspects of branding and advertising for clients. This means that they make sure new branding and advertising satisfies clients’ requested needs and the images they’d like to convey for their products or organizations.
What Are the Duties of a Creative Director?
- Managing creative projects from development to completion
- Interpreting clients’ marketing objectives into advertising strategies and solutions
- Balancing dynamic, creative ideas with a realistic business and financial foundation
- Leading the creative team in the composition of advertising and marketing collateral while catering to different ideas, personalities, and objectives
- Presenting and selling advertising designs to clients
- Preparing the final execution of advertising projects
- Ensuring quality by taking responsibility for all final products
Advertising creative directors usually have a degree in communications, fine arts, journalism, or a related field. Most agencies prefer candidates to have a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree.
A creative director usually starts out as a copywriter or an art director before he or she progresses to the creative director position. By the time one applies for a creative director job, he or she should have a portfolio to show for previous ad assignments.
One of the most important skills that a creative director should have mastered is impeccable leadership. Prior experience as a leader or manager is important for this job. Project management experience also helps creative directors facilitate productive and successful projects.
It’s also crucial to be well versed in a variety of design computer applications such as Flash, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, InDesign, PowerPoint, and sometimes 3-D rendering applications. Experience using HTML, Dynamic HTML, and Actionscript is also preferable in creative directing.
Creative Directors’ Salaries Grew Fast in 2007 But Now Seem to Be Slowing
Creative directors throughout the U.S. earn an average of $92,000 per year, according to Salary.com. The lowest end of the salary spectrum for creative directors in the U.S. is $71,000, and the high end is $117,000.
According to the AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries, salaries have gone up significantly for creative directors since 2005. The median salary for a U.S. creative director was $82,000 three years ago. The high end of that pay range was $100,000, and the low end was $65,000.
The AIGA|Aquent Survey of Design Salaries’ 2007 report shows the median U.S. creative director salary at $90,000, with the low end at $73,000 and the high end at $116,000. The survey reports little growth in 2008 so far.
