Careers in Digital Art
The Lesson Activities will help you meet these educational goals:
· Content Knowledge—Explore careers in digital art.
· Inquiry—You will conduct online research in which you will collect information and communicate your results in written form.
· 21st Century Skills— You will employ online tools for research and analysis and communicate your answers effectively.
Directions
You will evaluate these activities yourself. Please save this document before beginning the lesson and keep the document open for reference during the lesson. Type your answers directly in this document for all activities.
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Self-Checked Activities
Read the instructions for the following activities and type in your responses. At the end of the lesson, click the link to open the Student Answer Sheet. Use the answers or sample responses to evaluate your own work.
1. Interview with an Advertising Designer
Make an appointment with a digital artist in advertising. Prepare and ask questions about the digital artist‘s career, skills, training needs, responsibilities, work hours, and work environment.
Sample answer:
(Answers may vary. This is an imaginary conversation.)
Interview with Mary Kelly, who is working as an art director with an advertising agency:
Question: What made you choose advertising design as your career?
Mary Kelly: I have always aspired to work in an exciting creative field. Advertising demands high energy. Doing what the client wants without compromising on my artistic quality of work is a great challenge. Then there are awards and recognition, but nothing tops the pleasure of doing the right things in the right way.
Question: Could you elaborate on the skills needed to be a successful art director?
Mary Kelly: Formal education is important. You learn many aspects of advertising design on the job. Technical skills are essential. You need to know how to use InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash, as well as other emerging tools. Of course you need to have an artistic bent of mind. It helps if you’re good at art—as in drawing, sculpting, or painting.
Question: What kind of training did you receive to become an art director?
Mary Kelly: I hold a BA in Visual Communication and I’ve also done my Master’s in Advertising Design. Other than my formal education, much of my knowledge has come from interacting with like-minded people, both in and outside of college. I’ve also been able to get considerable on-the-job training at agencies I have worked with in the past.
Question: What is your role and what are your key responsibilities?
Mary Kelly: I am one of the three art directors here. My team includes creative directors and junior and senior designers. My work involves developing strategies for advertising campaigns and executing the strategies in the best possible way. I also work with photographers and producers, so I often travel on photo shoots. My work also requires me to visit other branches of my agency.
Question: What is the work environment like? What are your working hours?
Mary Kelly: It is challenging, yet rewarding. We do work that delivers results to our clients, and sometimes wins us awards. We have a young team here. We are always brainstorming, reading, and watching ads or reading books—generally having fun.
The work hours can be erratic. They depend on the deadlines agreed upon with clients. Also, during new business pitches, the pace is frenetic and our office gets buzzing with activity and high energy. It is a high-octane, high-pressure job, but it also offers great fun.
2. Job Requirements
The Internet has websites that display job advertisements. Find two jobs each for the streams in digital art that you learned about in the lesson. Write a summary of the role, qualifications, skills, and experience required for each job from these advertisements.
Sample answer:
(Answers may vary.)
Advertising art director jobs:
a. Art Director
Primary responsibilities includeart direction/graphic design. You need to personally work on the graphic development of at least one product. You’ll work with copywriters to develop creative concepts and executions of assigned product(s). You’ll need to have a good understanding of the science and market dynamics of your client’s product(s). You’ll work closely with account executives to schedule and monitor all projects, provide accurate time and cost estimates for each tactic, and perform miscellaneous tasks as set out by the Creative Director.
Secondary responsibilities includeclient relationships. You’ll need to advise clients on all technical visual recommendations and solve issues. You’ll facilitate client and creative meetings and assist in making presentations. You’ll also need to handle other responsibilities—such as staff development—by providing guidance and direction to designers.
Qualifications: The qualifications required include a minimum of an associate (2 year) degree in advertising, communication design, or visual arts.A bachelor (4 year) degree is preferred.Three or more years of design experience in an agency setting is essential. In the absence of a degree, six to eight years of related experience in an agency is required. You must also have one to two years of supervisory experience.
Skills: You must have exceptional computer skills.Knowledge of the Macintosh operating environment is essential.Good knowledge of the following tools is required: Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator, scanning software, Adobe Photoshop, and any popular word-processing applications. You should demonstrate an ability to think creatively and provide solutions to conceive and execute strategies. You’ll have the ability to pay close attention to details. You’ll also have image development skills, good knowledge of color theory and relationships, and an understanding of typography.
b. Associate Creative Director:
Responsibilities: As an associate creative director, you’ll need to have a deep understanding of business opportunities and problems, and the ability to be innovative and stay up-to-date in thinking. You’ll need to understand how to generate ideas that address business problems and opportunities. You’ll need to have a dedicated workplace ethic of commitment. You’ll also have provocative concept development skills and an entrepreneurial spirit. You’ll work with planners and contribute to briefs and other creative efforts. You’ll also need to be able to create good presentations.
Experience and skills: An associate creative director should have five to ten years of experience working with traditional advertising, engagement agencies, digital houses or multi-channel brands. You should have good knowledge of tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, PPT, and Keynote. You need to be enthusiastic, have an inquisitive nature, and bring fresh approaches to problem solving. Your portfolio should illustrate exceptional thinking based on content-driven ideas spread across different media. You’ll need to enjoy working in a collaborative environment with writers, other art directors, and planners. You should be excited about solving creative problems independently or about writing headlines, or be able to give clear conceptual direction for copywriters. You’ll need to be able to solve problems on briefs creatively and provide a sound rationale for all concepts. You should also be good at giving presentations. Competency in time management, teamwork, workflow planning, and the ability to deliver results on time within budget are other requirements.
3. Institutions for Digital Art
Research and write short descriptions of some organizations that provide courses on digital art.
Sample answer:
(Answers may vary.)
a. ConceptArt Atelier, San Francisco: This school is a joint venture by the famous Massive Black design studio and ConceptArt.org. It focuses on training for concept art work, and has many famous teachers. Enrollment is fiercely competitive. It is well-suited for those who are looking for a promising career in games, films, and entertainment.
b. Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota: This is a non-profit art school and it’s one of the finest art schools in the United States. It offers courses in illustration, computer animation, and game art and design. The Core Studies program includes drawing, color, and design. Specialization starts in the 2nd year.
c. School Of Visual Arts, New York: This was originally known as the Cartoonists’ and Illustrators’ School. There are eleven undergraduate- and nine graduate-level programs. Programs include illustration and visual and critical studies. It has the largest illustration faculty of any arts college. Students also learn art history, theory, and philosophy alongside courses in drawing and digital imaging.
d. Academy of Art University, San Francisco: This is the largest private school of art and design in the United States. Its illustration course is one of the best for prospective concept designers. It also offers various industrial and product design programs.
4. Working in Digital Art Teams
Identify common requirements of working in design teams and employer expectations.
Sample answer:
(Answers may vary.)
Soft skills: One of the most important requirements in working with a digital design team is the ability to be a team player. Success comes to any team with sound leadership, passion, and planning. Great ideas are delivered by knowledgeable team players who possess the right skills and use these skills to produce the best results for their team. Organizations expect digital designers to work together as a team. An individual can’t bring in all the skills and great ideas needed for a project; many people collaborating in a conducive work environment make success happen. Organizations also expect digital artists to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in their field. Therefore, constant learning and upgrading of skills is essential for digital artists.
Great leadership leads to great success; therefore, leadership skills are important for a digital artist. When a team lacks direction or momentum or motivation, a good leader can inspire the team and lead by setting a good example.
Good communication skills are important too. If you have a great idea but you can’t convey it in the right way, it may never be executed. Digital art projects have tight deadlines; this throws a digital artist into a fast-paced environment, where rework and revisions add to the pressure of everyday work. A digital artist needs to find ways to cope with a high-stress working environment.
Software skills: There are many software tools that a digital artist is expected to know well. These include: PhotoShop, After Effects, Action Script, Adobe Illustrator, Flash, Final Cut Pro, InDesign, Maya, PowerPoint, Quark, and 3ds Max.
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