What about schools?
The plain truth of the matter is that an art director does not need college or even art school. If you can get a job as an assistant A.D., you'll learn more in six months than you would in two years in school. In fact, a few of the legendary creative people in advertising never even entered college. They learned everything on the job. Even so, an advanced education won't hurt, so if you decide that you want to go to college or art school, go, and take it for all it's worth. Pick every brain you can find, learn as much about everything as you possibly can.
What should an art director major in?
You have more choices than you think. You might concentrate your studies in graphics, advertising design, commercial art, or even in film.
No matter what your specialty, though, you should also take courses in other areas, because the more complete your back-ground is, the better your chances will be for getting a job. You could take courses in marketing, drama or theater, broadcast production, filmmaking, photography (color and black-and-white), darkroom techniques, illustration, psychology, and both two- and three-dimensional design.
An art director, or for that matter anyone who wants to get into advertising, can really put a liberal arts education to work for them, because advertising constantly makes new demands on its people. You never really know what the next account or project you work on will require you to know, so don't be reluctant to take any course which might strike your fancy. Take anything from anthropology to aerodynamics, from mathematics to medieval history. Advertising is one field in which you can never tell when some less-than-common information might come in handy.
The other important way you can round out your education is with summer jobs. Try for an internship with an agency. If you can't find one, you can still get a summer job that will pay off down the road. Find a job with a printer. It will give you some first-hand knowledge of the printing business, which is some-thing an A.D. needs to know about. Maybe you can get a job with a typesetter. Even if you're just a delivery person, you'll get to learn about typography, another important area for art di-rectors. Since art directors need to know about paper, you might try for something with a paper company.
If you're lucky, or if you know someone, you might be able to get a job with a photographer or an illustrator. You might even find work in the film business with a production company, a film editor, or with a post-production company-a company that puts the finishing touches on commercials. You won't get a very glamorous position, but a job in any of those fields would really be great.
The bottom line is that even if you simply go out and get a job as a messenger in a Photostat house, you'll be learning things that you'll need to know and that you'll use almost every day of your life as an art director. You don't need to work in all of those businesses, but one, two, or three of the right summer jobs can put you ahead of the competition when you're ready to join the work force full time. You'll gain knowledge and experience in the advertising business and you can also make a few contacts in agencies.
Still, the fact is that even with a decent portfolio, a well-rounded education, and some practical work experience, there's no guarantee that you'll walk out of school right into a job as an assistant art director.
Then what do you do?
If you can't find a job as an assistant A.D., try getting a job doing mechanicals in an agency or studio. That's one way an art director gets his start. If you want to get a job doing mechanicals and haven't had a course in studio skills, perhaps you can get a job running errands and doing go-fer work until you learn to use a razor blade, T-square, triangle, and ruling pen.
If you can't get a job doing mechanicals or a job in which you could learn to do them, try one of those summer job suggestions.
You could even call an advertiser. Granted, it wouldn't be a job with an agency, but you'd learn about advertising from the client side. You'd learn a little about production, because you'd probably work on all the stuff that the advertiser produces for himself. You'd also make a few agency connections, because you'd be working with the agency handling your company's advertising business. And since most agencies are loathed to make enemies out of anyone who works for one of their clients, you could probably impose on the agency's creative director or a group head to review and critique your portfolio.
Just remember, no matter in what kind of job you begin your career, you must keep looking for a job as an A.D. or asst. A.D., or you'll never find one.
If you want a job as an A.D. or an assistant A.D. in an advertising agency, the person to call is the creative director. You'll find the creative director of almost every agency in the country listed in the Advertising Redbook right under the agency's name. If you can't get the creative director on the phone, ask to speak with a creative group head. If you can't speak with a group head, try an executive art director or senior air director. If you still don't have any luck, ask to see an art director.
