How to hire art directors

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
• Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
• Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
• Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
• Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
• Present final layouts to clients for approval.
• Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
• Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Bachelor's degree]
• Strong active listening, speaking, critical thinking, reading comprehension, writing and active learning skills
• Working knowledge of design, English Language, computers and electronics and fine arts
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $55.22 an hour ($114,850 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for art directors

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to create custom illustrations or other graphic elements. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
7. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What art directors do

• Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
• Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
• Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.
• Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
• Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
• Present final layouts to clients for approval.
• Review and approve art materials, copy materials, and proofs of printed copy developed by staff members.
• Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionWritingActive LearningDesignEnglish LanguageComputers and ElectronicsFine Arts

Education, experience and outlook for art directors

• Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 4 to 6 years (O*NET)
• Experience usually needed to start: 5 years or more (BLS)
• Job outlook: +4.2% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 12,200 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay art directors

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See art directors pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Craft Artists
• Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators
• Special Effects Artists and Animators
• Artists and Related Workers, All Other
• Commercial and Industrial Designers
• Fashion Designers
• Floral Designers
• Graphic Designers
• Interior Designers
• Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.