e-Communication Careers

Looking to the Future
Recently in class I updated my skills and interests on Career Cruising. After taking some quizzes the website provided me a list of possible careers of interest and how they related to my skill levels in different professional areas. I was supposed to look into the top 5 e-Comm related careers, which conveniently were my general top 5.

1. Costume Designer:
Costume designers are the people behind the designs of costumes that actors wear in movies. plays, and on tv shows.

2. Set Designer:
Set designers are the the people behind the sets in movies, plays, and on tv shows.

3. Art Director:
Art directors work with how movies, tv shows, plays, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, websites, and general media appear to the public. They do individual work but also oversee others' projects.

4. Website Designer:
Website designers work with aesthetics and technology to create appealing and functional websites.

5. Special Effects Technician:
Special effects technicians are behind making the impossible, possible in film with the use of computer programs, makeup, and mechanical effects.

What I'm Interested In
Out of all of these I'm definitely most interested in the possibility of a career as an art director. I like the broadness of the career and the fact that it involves creating something without becoming a sort of art slave. This is the reason that although when I was young I dreamed of being an animator, now I know I could never do it. I want to be in charge of big decisions and participate in a actual design, not spend hours doing over time on a production's nitty gritty work with low pay that you can't protest because of a large amount of dispensability. When it comes to the building blocks of being an art director, some of this is involved. But when it comes to an end goal I really want to have a job where my suggestions aren't jus considered but they can actually change the course of a production. And at the same time I want to not only make suggestions, but create things myself, I think this career is a nice blend.

So you think you can be an art director?

What do art directors do?
To go more into depth, art directors are responsible for managing and participating in the creative processes and final visual appearances of media projects in the following fields:

-Print: Newspaper & Magazines (articles)
-Advertising: Newspapers, Magazines, Billboards, Websites, & TV (ads)
-Film: Movies, TV Shows, & Plays (sets, costumes, lighting, etc)
-Multimedia: Websites & Videogames

What's required to become an art director?

Experience:

Experience requirements can differ depending on the field but experience with the following is helpful for any digital or multimedia design:

-Adobe Photoshop

-Adobe InDesign 

-Adobe Illustrator

-QuarkXPress

Schooling:

When it comes to educational / schooling requirements typically at least a bachelor's degree is required. Although some with an associates or no secondary schooling may still find opportunities they may be few and far in-between. Spending a few extra years to get a masters degree is rarely required but would aid in finding a job. Anyone interested in becoming an art director should consider the following broad majors:

-Design and Visual Communications

-Commercial and Advertising Art

-General Art Studies

Jobs:

A career as an art director lies nears the end of a career ladder. Meaning, often times one must start out with a poor paying less desirable job to end up as an art director, even if they have proper experience and schooling. Career Cruising provides this example: someone might earn a film related degree, but in order to become a film director they must start out as the guy holding the mic, then they might work up to being a camera man, and eventually with hard work they become a low level director.

Much of the information above is not applicable to self employed art directors.

What is it like to be an art director?

Income:

Different levels of art directors make different salaries:

(listed as yearly income)

-Junior Art Director: $40-50,000

-Intermediate Art Director: $50-75,000

-Senior Art Director: $60-100,000

-Creative Director: $90-160,000

Conditions:

Different kinds of art directors work different hours:

-Studio / Office: These directors typically work a standard 40 hour week, but often work overtime to meet different project deadlines.

-Film: Film director's hours are long, irregular, and unpredictable. 

-Self Employed: Self employed art directors decide their own hours. Which doesn't mean their hours are less, as they often have more responsibilities in their company.