Week 7 - Art Director

In companies that involve team work, an influential group leader is always required, and in professional game companies it is the art director. The job of the art director is crucial in making visual side of the game effective, stylish and successful. Along with exceptional artistic abilities, they must also possess great leadership and communicative skills in order to manage and inspire a team. They come up with the initial ideas to motivate the artists, but at the same time their work is to supervise the group. When the work is done, they are the ones who “mark” the project to make sure that all the work is up to their expectation. They plan out all the objects in the environment, all the props, the character, and assure that the entire visual design of it is exactly how they had planned it.

Art directors communicate with other leaders like the Art Manager and make sure the projects are on track. They carry huge responsibilities such as managing projects, time and budgets, etc.

At this stage, I personally would not think about wanting to become an art director as I like to be able to work on projects and be extremely close to the artistic side of it. Many years of experience may alter my decisions, however. Who knows what the future holds?