Art director CV examples for you to use

An art director is someone who keeps an eye on graphic design projects, which requires project management expertise along with design knowledge. While this position might have less hands-on involvement with creating art for specific projects, art directors’ creative vision shines through in the end. Here are some tips if you’re looking to create the best CV for an art director position.

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When you’re applying to be any kind of creative director, you want to tell recruiters that you understand how to work with creative teams and production teams. You need to be able to work with colleagues in many different fields, which can include copywriters, web developers, e-commerce managers, and design teams. On top of that, you need to have your eye for creative design. The perfect CV will show off your ability to understand design and your ability to bring together people from many different fields to turn out a successful final project.

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The structure of your CV may vary slightly depending on the type of CV format that you end up choosing. This may include a chronological CV, which prioritises work experience, a functional CV, which prioritises skills, and a combination CV, which provides a balance of both. All these CV formats will have the same sections; they just might be moved around a bit.

Header

Your header includes your full name and your contact information, including links to any portfolio sites you have. It may also include a CV headline, which is a one-line description of who you are and how many years of experience you have.

Professional summary/Career objective

Next is your professional summary or career objective. Whereas the CV headline is a single line, the professional summary or career objective is typically two-to-three lines long and showcases your initiatives, key achievements, certifications and top skills. 

This is your first chance to show hiring managers that you fit the job description and have the work experience necessary to thrive. A professional summary is meant for people with more experience and summarises top previous design projects and skills. A career objective is meant for people with less experience and centres on career goals as well as your current knowledge and experience.

Skills

Your skill set needs to include both hard skills and soft skills. Always tailor your skill set to the specific job you’re hoping to get, based on the skills mentioned in the job description. Here are a few skills commonly related to art direction:

• Adobe Creative Suite (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe After Effects)
• Web design knowledge (CSS, HTML)
• Typography knowledge
• Project management
• Collaboration
• Attention to detail
• Knowledge of product design or print design
• Time management
• Problem-solving skills

In general, you should think about which skills will best help you develop whatever campaigns the company is pursuing. From digital media to photo shoots to marketing campaigns, read the job description multiple times, then adapt your existing skill set to fit that specific job description.

Work History

Art direction is quite a broad field, which means that when applying for an art director job, you can include a significant amount of work history that may not seem relevant at first glance. Include jobs that involve marketing collateral, brainstorming for design and other project-oriented work. All of these things can help you succeed in art direction, and unorthodox work experience that relates to the job can be counted as relevant work experience.

Education

Last is your education section. Typically, art directors are expected to have a bachelor’s degree in fine arts or a design subject, although your options are varied in this field. Include your degree and any other academic experience here; you may also include certifications and related extracurricular activities.

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Do:

• Use a CV builder for your art director CV. Nothing is worse than an art director CV that doesn’t have an appealing look; don’t lead a hiring manager to suspect you don’t really have a lot of knowledge of art and design. CV builders can supply you with modern, streamlined templates that are fitting for a CV related to design.
• Showcase experience in the field you’re applying for. An art director job is more about direction than art, so any experience in the particular field the job is advertising for will help.

Don’t:

• Apply for the wrong jobs. For example, don’t apply for a senior art director position, which typically needs many years of experience in art direction, if you lack experience.
• Submit the same CV to multiple jobs. Every time you apply to a new job, you must update your CV to target the job’s required skills and experiences.
• Avoid CV templates for fear of looking “cookie-cutter”. The best CV templates add to your CV, and designing your template may take much longer than it seems.

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