EPISODE 0: ART DIRECTOR ?

For the past weeks, I have been reading a lot – lot of books to figure out what “my next moves” were going to be. Before getting myself into my own projects, I wanted to be sure that this path, being an art director, was the right fit for me.

The most important of all the books I have read about this subject (references below) is that you can choose “how” you want to practice your art. Being an art director is not something you learn through books, but it is a skill you acquire through the ideas you realize and the reason you are doing them.

Obviously, after finding your identity as an artist and sharping your skills as an media translator, you can accept to transcript other people’s idea into what medium they want + add your plus-value to the project.

Right now, I feel like I’m finding myself as an artist, trying to interpret my own ideas into different mediums, ones I never had the courage to use and ones that I feel like are my longtime friends.

references:

  • The art directors’ handbook of professional magazine design : classic techniques and inspirational approaches by Horst Moser
  • The education (of) an art director by Steven Hellen & Veronique Allen
  • The secret of the highly creative thinker: how to makes connections other don’t by Dorte Nielson
  • Creative visual thinking : how to think up ideas fast ; a system for art directors, designers, illustrators, photographers, account executives, copywriters, creative directors, editors and publishers by Morton Garchik
  • Art Direction by Nik Mahon
  • Art direction explained, at last by Steven Hellen & Veronique Allen
  • Inside art direction : interviews and case studies by Steven Brower
  • Production design: architects of the screen by Jane Barnwell