Job Description
An ad agency relies on the expertise, experience, and creativity of its creative director. Take Argentina's JWT Advertising Agency. It won the 2009 Clio Award for its Ford billboard advert. This was a brilliant ruse that combined environmental concerns and automotives. The ad used a relevant message alongside a gas-saving automobile from Ford and was strategically positioned atop trees. It was indeed a brilliant advertising ploy.
A creative director must be abreast with current events, global issues, and customer trends. A keen eye for detail and an attitude that motivate the advertising team to produce excellent work also go with the job. As a creative director, one must not rest on his or her present achievements but must strive harder to give a better output next time.
It is a job that manages and directs people working on art work, layout design, and creating copy writing for books, magazines, newspapers, and packaging. Design director positions spell involvement with clients and workers.
It is a job that has it's highs and lows and design directors must have nerves of steel to cope in a stressful environments of tough competition and deadlines to create stunning billboards, develop TV and cinema techniques, posters, and print and radio ads. On top of these, design directors have to manage a limited budget yet still be able to produce brilliant work to please clients.
Those seeking creative director jobs should be ready to take on responsibilities such as overseeing all creative projects, directing the creative designers/team, managing creative projects from start to finish, developing creative strategies from marketing objectives, hiring and training staff, and negotiating with printers.
Job Qualifications
Creative director jobs require a copywriting background. Computer design applications - Adobe Illustrator, Flash, Photoshop, InDesign, PowerPoint, QuarkXpress and skills in 3D rendering are must haves. A solid grasp of HTML, Dynamic HTML, including Actionscript are equally important. These are the technical aspects of the job. To get the coveted director position, the candidate must have years of supervisory experience and management skills.
To pursue a career in creative design, a business degree and emphasis on marketing starts the journey. An advanced degree or a Master's in communication arts adds value to the position. Your educational background should help you fuse the creative process in keeping with advertising theories.
Employers also prefer graduates of advertising and journalism for design director posts that mainly handle public relations. A solid background in mathematics, finance, accounting, economics, management and business law give job candidates better chances at getting the job. For design director placement in top firms, candidates must have certificates of competency in Graphic Design, Web Design, Multimedia Design, Digital Arts, and Marketing Design.
Job Projection
Employment in design management is projected to grow to fill up replacements and new positions until 2018. Globally, one has more chances. Giant firms and medium-to-small businesses will be needing advertisements to promote products and services and depend on great advertising management skills to pull off sensational adverts.
Compensation
The Occupational Employment Statistics pegs wages in this sector at an annual mean of $97,670. This amount does not yet include the bonuses and other perks that go with the job. The rate goes higher for high profile positions. Top cities like New York offer the best pay for this coveted position followed by San Francisco, Boston, and Nassau.
Where to Find Creative Director Posts
Creative director vacancies either new or needing requirement are published in local and national dailies. But recruitment agencies focused on advertising have access to the information from several companies. You can approach a placement agency or find one online to do the legwork for you. You can make inquiries at several firms including those in the movie and TV industry.
How to Get That Job
If you are already a design director but you want to take home a higher pay, look up the ad agencies in top cities like NY. If you are grooming yourself for the position in the future, stock up on certifications of competencies from recognized programs. Know what is going on in and out of your ad agency and be on top of the different artistic media trends.
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