Mihai coliban bbdo art direction is science short

The Science of Art Direction Mihai Coliban. 13.04.2012

Art Direction is NOT

JUST ART

Art Direction is NOT JUST HAVING AN IDEA

Art Direction is NOT COPYWRITING

Art Direction is NOT NICE GRAPHICS

Art Direction is NOT DONE BY ILLUSTRATORS, CLIENT SERVICE OR CLIENTS

Art Direction is

SCIENCE

THE SCIENCE OF ART DIRECTION

01 Why is Art Direction a Science 02 Can Anybody be an Art Director? 03 The Mechanics of Art Direction 04 Art Direction is Hard Work. Case study 05 Art Direction in Print/TV/Digital/Outdoor&Ambient/Events 06 Q&A

01 Why is Art Direction a Science


ART DIRECTION: The process of designing a certain flow of information (a message), using mostly visual instruments.


SCIENCE: A system designed to acquire and systematize theoretical and practical knowledge of surrounding reality. (one of the many on-line definitions of SCIENCE)


ART DIRECTION: The process of designing a certain flow of information (a message), using mainly visual instruments.

It’s enough to start counting the technical terms inside the definition of ART DIRECTION to logically conclude it’s a SCIENCE.


ART DIRECTION IS SCIENCE

It operates with precise instruments.

It works by rules and knowing them is a time consuming process.

Even when you break the rules of Art Direction, you create new rules.

02 Can Anybody be an Art Director?


ART DIRECTOR = SCIENTIST The same as in SCIENCE, people often assume that since ART DIRECTION requires certain knowledge of visual language which can only be acquired through specific studies, it can only be practiced by the INITIATED.


SO, IT’S ALL ABOUT GOING TO ART SCHOOL? Yes – because if not, you don’t have the instruments And no – because, the same as in SCIENCE, knowledge is nothing without IDEAS = the ability to combine knowledge in unique, unexpected ways.


IDEAS They can come from anywhere

ART DIRECTION You need specific knowledge to do it right


THE IDEAL ART DIRECTOR. According to the previous theory, the profile of the ideal art director is: > Art college graduate > Miami Ad School (or another school of advertising) graduate > Was an intern/worked in network agencies


EXAMPLE. ALI ALI > American college Cairo > Miami Ad School (Miami, USA) > Internships in Romania, Germany > Worked in network agencies in Germany, Dubai and Cairo Art Director/Copywriter/Owner at Elephant, Cairo, also a director, won several Cannes Lions (1st in 2008, at 33), was a speaker in Cannes 2011.


EXAMPLE. PAVEL GANIN > Studies film direction at VGIK > Graduated Wordshop > Initially a copywriter > Worked in Russia – BBDO, Saatchi

Last job in advertising - art director in BBDO Moscow. Now finishing his education as a director. A couple of shortlists in Cannes (in 2010), 25 years old.


OK. WHAT’S THE POINT OF THIS?

It’s not a must to be an artist to become a great art director.

But there is a certain way of becoming a great art director.


OK. WHAT’S THE POINT OF THIS?

The question “who is better – art directors or copywriters” is absurd

The art director is the way the iMac, Mac Book, iPhone look and work. The copywriter is the computer inside.


GREAT ART DIRECTORS HAVE THE BRAINS OF A SCIENTIST…


… THE VISUAL SENSE OF A MULTIMEDIA GENIUS…


… THE PRECISION OF A SURGEON …


… AND MUST BE STUBBORN AS A GOLD DIGGER.


ART DIRECTING IT’S LIKE WRITING A SCHOOL BOOK Precisely ENCODE, using a LIMITED amount of TOOLS, a huge amount of SPECIFIC INFORMATION into a piece of communication which has to be READ and UNDERSTOOD by a SPECIFIC USER in just ONE WAY.


THAT’S WHY SOME OF THE BEST ART DIRECTORS ARE/HAVE BEEN COPYWRITERS Copywriters are used to convert their thoughts into words, to find logic where apparently nothing makes sense, to put a meaning behind every piece of information they reveal.


AND THE FUN PART IS THAT… If you start digging into where copywriters come from, you’ll discover past jobs as medical graduate, lawyer, philosophy teacher, economist, journalist, linguist …

All analytical minds, who find ideas through RESEARCH.

PLEASE COUNT THE STORIES IN THE PREVIOUS VISUAL. DO YOU WANT TO BET WHO WROTE THEM?

03 The Mechanics of Art Direction


WHEN DOES ART DIRECTION APPEAR IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS.

THE IDEA IS BORN FIRST. And it doesn’t matter where it comes from, an art director or a copywriter. We’re all IDEAS GENERATORS.


WHEN DOES ART DIRECTION APPEAR IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS.

THEN COMES EXECUTION. What should we show, land or sea? A herd of whales or an Ocean liner? Maybe a submarine… The Art Director’s mind started to work…


FINALLY!

Idea and execution are clear. NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE ART DIRECTOR TO DO THE MAGIC.


YES, IT’S THAT SPECIFIC. It seems to be a very small role, but it’s in fact huge.


HUGE


COMPOSITION COLORS TEXTURES TYPOGRAPHY


COMPOSITION Structure, Focus Storytelling Dynamics, Hierarchy, Rhythm


COMPOSITION COLORS TEXTURES TYPOGRAPHY

04 Art Direction in TV/Digital/Outdoor & Ambient/Events


TV


Digital


Outdoor & Ambient


Events

05 Art Direction is Hard Work. Case study

And some conclusions

Art Direction evolves continuously

Art Direction is a popular science

As advertising itself became an interface between brands and consumers

We are not just Art Directing anymore

We are designing universal COMMUNICATION INTERFACES

Mihai coliban bbdo art direction is science short

Education

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