Perfect Art Director Resume: Step-by-Step Guide

1. What does an art director do?
2. What skills are Sufficient for an Art Director’s Resume?
3. Art Director Resume Cover Letter Tips
4. Art Director Resume Cover Letter Samples
5. Art director Resume Template

Do you think you could be a great art director? And do you ever think about creating an impressive art director resume? I will gladly help you with that, but first I have to make sure you fully understand what an art director does. The secret to creating a perfect CV lies in having a complete understanding of work you will have to do if approved for the vacancy. So, let’s take a closer look at this job position and define what you should know.

What does an art director do?

Every person has their own opinion about what is beautiful, elegant or stylish. However, when several designers work on one project, their differences can mess up the creation process. The design that would be perfect for one designer would look awful for another designer. This why an art director is needed.

The ship has to have only one captain. In any project the principle is the same—there has to be a single person who will define how the result will look like. Like a captain on a ship or PM for the programmers—the art director manages designers’ activities, makes them work together and creates the product the client wants. This person talks to the client to understand their needs, builds a design project, controls it to look just as expected and does all the paperwork. In simple words, the art director is responsible for the creation of the aesthetic part of the project, which could be software, a film, a show, ads, a game or a theatrical play.

What skills are Sufficient for an Art Director’s Resume?

If you would like to work in a big company, you have to know that HRs of international firms usually use special software to sort and filter resumes. Those apps will scan the resume to find certain skills. Recruiters of small companies don’t usually use this software, but they still go through your resume and look at the skills section to check if you fit for the vacancy’s requirements.

Skills you need to possess and add to your art director resume are:

• Graphic design or illustration. This is not really necessary but is highly desirable. If you can draw what you mean—it will be much easier to explain your point to your designers. You can also list the software you can work in, like PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, etc.).
• Leadership. This skill is one of the most important, even for a junior art director's resume. You are supposed to manage the work of other people. This means that you will have to make them do what you want them to do.
• Time management. The team works really efficiently as the art director knows exactly how to manage time. There are only 24 hours in a day and you will have access only to eight of them. The art director has to know how to make the best of their team members' time.
• Documentation management. Besides design concept creation you, as a manager, will have to fill in lots of documentation. People who already have some experience in that will be stressed lesser than those who didn’t.
• Sales and marketing principles. This skill is especially important for your art director resume if you are going to work in the advertisements niche. It is impossible to create a product or brand design that will encourage people to buy without knowing how marketing works.
• Fine Arts. There is a huge theoretical knowledge base about art. If you know the basics of it, you will be able to describe and present the works of art or use that knowledge for any design concept.
• Team coordination. Knowing the strong and weak sides of your team members is essential for efficient coordination among them. You should know what person to give a task so that it will be accomplished quickly and perfectly.

Art Director Resume Cover Letter Tips

If you thought nobody reads cover letters, you are wrong. In many cases, recruiters will read the cover letter before going through the resume. If your cover letter is not clear and impressive, you may miss the vacancy. Here are a few tips about what to write in the cover letter.

• Express your individuality. Companies usually seek interesting people who will be responsible for the design. So try to show all your unique individuality in the cover letter.
• Be grateful. The recruiter goes through dozens of cover letters every day. It would be nice of you to show that you are grateful and thank the HR for reading your cover letter.
• Be completely honest. In your art director's resume and cover letter, you have to write only facts. False information might get your CV through the filters, but it won’t get you through the interview.
• Check the grammar. Errors in the cover letter make the applicant look like they do not take the position they are applying for seriously. So, after writing, check the text once more to be sure everything is correct.
• Use samples and templates. There are thousands of art director resume examples and cover letter samples. You just have to customize the template. The main advantage of the sample cover letter is that it is already written in a nice style and in good language.

Art Director Resume Cover Letter Samples

As I said previously, an art director's cover letter sample is a text, already written by some professional. You can either take the whole text and customize it to fit your experience or use it as an example and write your own cover letter on its basis. Usually, they are provided for free. Here are a few examples of websites that offer free art director cover letter samples:

• iResume Cover Letter
• resume.com
• CareerJimmy
• Job-interview-site.com

Art director Resume Template

To impress your potential employer, it is better to use an art director resume template. A boring default resume template will be a total disaster. If you would like to get an artistic position, you need an original and stylish resume. You will be able to find lots of cool and professionally made art director resume templates in the TemplateMonster marketplace.

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Marvin Wiley

This art director resume template will perfectly fit almost any artistic profession. It has an original design in three colors, a witty layout and includes a free business card template. The template package includes .docx, .eps, .pdf, .psd and .ai files, so you will be able to customize it through any program you know and like.

Max Linderman

If you prefer a strict and modern style, this art director resume template is just what you need. The combination of colors, lines, and icons makes a strong impression on the viewer and shows you as a strong and independent person. The template comes in five different file formats, is easy to edit and has an A4 standard size.

Melanie Flower

The flower design is a popular way of expressing one’s creativity. A floral image that frames this art director's resume looks very sophisticated and presents you as a person of good taste. The fonts used in this template are free, so you will be able to use the fonts in business cards and other self-promotion material.

Diego Espinosa

Monochrome could be really stylish and cool. Just check out this art director resume template—it looks as if you are a character of a blockbuster film! The layout and icons are breathing with energy, creativity, and passion. The template goes in four file formats and has two style options—with and without the photo.

Lana Munro

Rather laconic and minimalistic, with just a few bright parts, this art director resume template is suitable for a person who wants to step out of the line of standard CVs. You can either put your photo on top of it or not. The template comes in .eps, .pdf, .psd and .ai files formats.

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