INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Art Director positions are at a 8% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 168,000 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 13,200 to 181,200 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Art Director jobs was $98,860 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $54,070, and the highest 10% more than $155,660.
Our conclusion? The Art Director job market is wide open for candidates.
Top art director sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Writing a strong art director experience section
Art director resume experience section: ultimate checklist
- Use no more than 4-6 bullet points per position;
- List relevant positions and situations that add value to your application;
- Describe situations, tasks, actions, and results (the S-T-A-R method);
- Remember to include numbers in whatever form you like (e.g. the number of projects you’ve finished);
- Begin each bullet point with an action verb.
Check out the examples below when building your experience section. They will help you stand out!
- Redesigned and laid-out quarterly
- Laid-out and Designed Book
- Edited Selected Photos to Work Best for Layouts
- Worked as an art director, wardrobe stylist & production assistant
- Executed clients' & director's creative vision for TVCs, DVCs & Still Shoots.
- Learned to work under pressure, delegate tasks, & execute in limited time with required improvisation,
- Art director for commercial feature film, "Thori Setting Thora Pyar"
- Catered to script’s Art & Set Design keeping in mind director’s vision and mood for the film.
- Responsible for location scouting, set designing, provision of props & story-boarding
- Established the art direction of Ridge Racer Draw & Drift, Rakoo's Adventure, and several more mobile games.
- Supervised and worked on the creation of game assets, UI, animations, concept arts, environments and characters.
- Hired, led and mentored the studio art team (up to 7 artists), making sure they enjoyed their job and delivered awesome work on time.
- Created high quality marketing art for our games and our studio, including logos, websites, app screenshots, key arts, trailers.
- Directed and worked on game cinematics and short films, from storyboard to compositing and editing.
- Oversaw and managed external art resources.
- Established the art direction of Ridge Racer Draw & Drift, Rakoo's Adventure, and several more critically acclaimed mobile games.
- Supervised and worked on the creation of game assets, UI, animations, environments and characters.
- Hired, led and mentored the studio art team (up to 7 artists), making sure they enjoyed their job and delivered awesome work on time.
- Created high quality marketing art for both our games and our studio, including logos, websites, app store screenshots, key arts, and trailers.
- Directed and worked on game cinematics and short films creation, from storyboard to compositing and editing, including a 2D animated sequence seen in Kung Fury: the movie.
- Oversaw and managed external art resources
- Introduce in a 360 communication the latest VW Golf Estate
- Creation of TVC scenarios and digital concepts for different media
- Writing TVC scripts // Creating digital assets. // Post Production supervision // digital & print implementation
- Introduce in a 360 communication the VW Golf
- Creation of key concepts for TV, print and digital communication
- Creation of look & feel, photo briefs and a distinctive digital communication for three car lines
- Writing TVC scripts // Curating print photoshoots // Layout digital assets // Ideate digital and print communication // Production and Post Production supervision // Digital and print implementation
- After joining the company via acquisition I immediately started the transition from the newly shipped title to work on establishing the creative vision for a new and exciting project with a massive global IP
- Once the project creative vision was established my role has been operational support based, by helping to optimize the production pipelines and continue to uphold the established creative vision
- I have also had the opportunity to work alongside the VP or Art by developing the job structure for all the artists roles and also by ideating and implementing creative outlets for development in order to level up, attract and retain the top talent in the industry
- I have also had the chance to support other projects within the company by providing creative consulting or visiting external studios in order to assess their compatibility with Scopely in order to identify potential for future collaboration
- During the development of "Scrabble GO" I lead the team in the crafting of a delightful experience with a contemporary and familiar vibe all of that while delivering an experience that felt on brand, designed for the target audience, and with performance not previously achieved by the publisher
- I worked closely with the publisher CEO, the VP or Art, VP of Marketing, and VP of product to ensure that the creative vision was clearly understood and uncompromised
- I developed and presented creative vision pitch documents, art bibles, production documents and managed new technology implementation groups
- I also managed the onboarding, communication, and feedback for two external development partner studios
- Directed Over 120 slot machine games for the following apps: Vegas Diamond Casino, Black Diamond Casino, & Wizard of Oz slots
- Suppported the Organization development by staffing and developing teams in Austin, TX, San Francisco, CA, & Toronto
- Mentored team members into leadership positions and individual contributor mastery roles
- Directed over 60 slot machine games for the following apps; Vegas Diamond Casino, & Black Diamond Casino
- Crafted, maintained and presented the creative vision documents to the outsourcing partners in order to onboard them into the project
- Onboarded and mentored Jr artists
- Art Direction
- Production
- Social Media Strategy
- Accounting
- Leading Team
- Art Direction
- Branding, Social media & printing.
- Collaborating with producers to develop on-air promo spots for network's primetime, as well as media and digital feed.
- Conceptualize ideas, creating design and animation for show identity, weekly trailer spots, as well as any graphics needs for special launch campaigns and special events.
- Nominated as one of NYC's top 9 Urban Garden designers.
- Managed 30 suppliers with 12 Greenfield plants to successful SOP
- Prepared materials on Eco Living for all IKEA stores across the city.
- Designed around 150 sites.
- Level Design (Unity)
- Skills Design
- Art Direction
- Game Balance
- World Lore
- Level Design
- Feature Design and Implementation
- UI and Sound Direction
- Trailer Scripts and Storyboarding
- Directed a team of designers and project coordinators to fulfill client orders.
- Developed new standards for file storage and redundancy and implemented new recovery systems.
- Conveyed client needs concisely and delivered every job on time and under or at budget.
- Rebranded bb7 from a 40 year old company to a studio that could compete with the growing competition and markets.
- Conceptualized and designed the user interface for Leer's vending Ice boxes, winning multiple industry design awards.
- Successfully rebranded several Fortune 500 firms to ensure they stay ahead of their market, including Miller Electric, Bunn Coffee, Leer, Weber Grilles, among others.
PRO TIP
Show off real numbers that display your accomplishments in past roles. Instead of listing out your responsibilities as Art Director, talk about the measurable impact you made to their business. Did you boost their revenue? Increase customer retention? Mention your proudest points on your resume.
Action verbs for your art director resume
Recommended reads:
Writing a strong skills section for your art director resume
Checklist for your art director skills section:
- Include all relevant skills from the job description to pass ATS;
- Focus on skills that show your expertise;
- List your technical skills in a clear and concise manner;
- Leave room for transferable skills related to teamwork, communication, negotiation, and conflict management.
Top skills for your art director resume
Photoshop
Illustrator
Microsoft Office
Autocad
Jira
Scrum
Communication
Active listening
Conflict resulotion
Stakeholder management
Empathy
Openmindedness
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads.":
Art director resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your art director resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Art Director resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
The ideal summary for your art director resume
Mastering the summary section: checklist
- Mention the total years of experience you have in the field;
- Focus on 2 to 3 of your top achievements;
- Highlight the things that make you the best fit for the position;
- Go for short, easy-to-read sentences to keep the recruiter’s attention.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Recommended reads:
Things to Include in Your Art Director Resume Education Section
Art director resume education section checklist:
- Mention your highest education degree;
- Add the duration of your course and the institution you attended;
- List the awards you’ve received during your studies;
- Feature your certifications if they are relevant to the position;
- Entry-level positions: Share more about projects and classes.
Top certifications for your art director resume
Thinking Like an Art Director with PaintShop Pro
Design theorem,Art Director,Compositions
Create Better Youtube Videos Learn the Art of Directing
With Emmy® Nominated Director, Robert Child
Editorial Illustration Tutorial: From Drawing to Photoshop
Learn how to transform a written article into a digital illustration with tips on drawing, color use, and texture.
How to Kickstart & Grow Your Art Career In The Game Industry
Get an artist job with a stand-out Resume, Portfolio, Linkedin Profile, & Application. Interview & Networking Insight
Character Art School: Complete Character Drawing Course
Learn How to Draw People and Character Drawings Professionally, Drawing for Animation, Comics, Cartoons, Games and More!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Art Director. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Formatting your art director resume
What’s worse than a .docx resume? A resume with a poorly chosen format.
In general, there are three basic resume formats we advise you to stick with:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
Choosing between them is easy when you’re aware of your applicant profile – it depends on your years of experience, the position you’re applying for, and whether you’re looking for an industry change or not.
The reverse-chronological resume format is just that – all your relevant jobs in reverse-chronological order. It’s great for applicants with lots of experience, no career gaps, and little desire for creativity.
When working with less experienced applicants, we suggest the functional skills-based resume format. It’s great for recent graduates or people with large career gaps. Functional skills-based resumes focus on your personality, the skills you have, your interests, and your education. Ultimately, the idea is to show you’re the perfect fit without putting too much emphasis on your work experience (or lack thereof).
If you’re in the middle or are generally looking to make your resume feel more modern and personal, go for the combination or hybrid resume format. It offers the best of both worlds by combining sections focused on experience and work-related skills and at the same time keeping space for projects, awards, certifications, or even creative sections like ‘my typical day’ and ‘my words to live by’.
Art Director Resume Formatting Checklist
- Choose the resume format based on your level of experience and the company you’re applying for
- Go for a traditional 10-12p font
- Stick to 1-inch page margins to ensure high readability
- Match the length of your resume to your experience, but don’t go for more than two pages!
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended Reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Art Director resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Additional sections for your art director resume
In some cases, especially when it comes to entry-level positions, adding more sections beyond the usual ‘experience’, ‘skills’, and ‘education’ works well in your favor. Such additional sections will help you paint a fuller picture of who you are in the recruiter’s head.
Here’s a list of fun yet informative additional sections for your resume:
Making your art director resume creative
We know too well that recruiters go through tons of resumes every day. The worse part is, they often need to hire people for different positions and teams. So how do you make yourself stand out in such cases?
By adding a dash of creativity to your Art Director resume. It can be in the form of a colorful layout, a section describing your typical day, or even a picture of your favorite book – you decide!
Just make sure that the levels of creativity match the industry, company, and position you’re applying for.
What makes a great art director resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
