How much does a Advertising Art Director make? Salary and Attributions

Art directors are generally known as "creatives". They produce innovative ideas for the visual elements of advertising campaigns across all types of media.

As an art director, you often work alongside a copywriter to form a “creative team”. Traditionally, the copywriter produces the words to accompany the visuals created by the art director.

These roles are becoming more blurred and both are likely to have a contribution to the visual and written content of the advertising campaign.

The advertising art director works on the campaign from the beginning and manages details about the client, product, target audience and required advertising message. This helps shape the advertising campaign.

Responsibilities

Your role may vary depending on the agency you work for. Typical tasks might include:

• Work closely with the copywriter to generate creative ideas and concepts.
• Produce sketches or 'storyboards' (television) or 'roughs' or 'scamps' (print) to communicate ideas to the client.
• Gain an understanding of the target audience the ad is targeting.
• Meet with the creative director and account managers before pitching ideas to clients.
• Pitch ideas to clients.
• Educate other members of the creative team.
• Commission photographers, artists or filmmakers to work on projects.
• Working in editing suites to oversee the product.
• Advising new creatives, reviewing and managing new agency teams.

Wage

The typical starting salary range for art directors is around R$4,306 monthly. Salaries for art directors range from R$954 to R$25,426, depending on experience, successful campaigns and any awards won.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Work hours

Working hours are generally business hours. However, extra hours are required at night and on weekends to meet specific deadlines and needs.

Antisocial work schedule can cause some kind of disruption in your personal life.

What to expect

Some art directors are self-employed and work as freelancers. While this is a more flexible way of working, it can also be less secure as advertising is a very competitive industry.

Freelance work is a more viable option for well-established art directors. The job is primarily office-based, but that depends on the type of project and the employer.

Jobs are available throughout Brazil, although many of the larger agencies are located in the Southeast region or other major cities. Employment opportunities also exist abroad.

Qualifications

While this field of work is open to all graduates, a degree in one of the following courses is likely to improve your chances:

• Advertising and marketing
• Marketing
• Graphic design
• Visual arts

A graduate degree is not essential, but if you have an unrelated bachelor's degree, a relevant postgraduate degree can help give you some experience in the field, as well as provide contacts in the area.