The Art Director

Ok I’m going to get straight to the point in this entry, starting with “What does an Art Director do?”

An Art Director is seen as the leader, and somewhat Wiseman in the overall vision of the game, but its stretches a lot further than people would think; they work closely with the Creative Director to define the artistic styles for the game; the Art Director also work closely with the project art manager to help, manage the artistic goals within the set budget and schedule. The recruitment of art teams, along with the recruitment department, also falls to him/her. They oversee all of the art teams’ results and giving feedback to work in progress; solves problems effectively related to the artistic creation of the game. The list is pretty much endless and to be honest sounds like the artistic part of them will be sucked right out of their souls if they’re not careful. I personally don’t think it is a creative roll, personally I think it is more about management than art, but without an Art Director not just the art department but the entire company would fall apart. Kind of like a house of cards, you take one card out the whole thing falls down.

If I wanted to ever become an art director firstly I think more than anything you need good leadership skills, tied with vast knowledge and experience in the Industry, not only being good at your chosen area but also in other areas very closely link e.g. 3D modelling.
Personally based on what I’ve found out about being an Art Director I would rather stay as an Artist/3D modeller, why? I prefer to be creative than managerial, hence the reason I’m studying a Creative course, and not a business based one.