How to Become an Art Director: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Jobs, Scope, Salary

What Does the Art Director Do?

A career as an Art Director is one of the most impressive jobs in the job market. Their work environments are advertising, marketing, video game industry, film making and graphic design companies.

• Daily tasks of an Art Director are to design and develop creative art and to review and approve the design and art materials which are designed by the team
• They have to set a time limit for the team to complete a project and also manage the budget to work on that project
• They have to determine what elements should use to design and create
• Art Directors job is well paid and the employees get INR 3,00,000 – INR 12,00,000 per annum in India

Check: Art Certificate Courses

Steps to Follow to Become an Art Director

Some important steps you must follow to pursue a career as an Art Director. Here are those steps.

Subject Choices

• There are some courses you can opt for to be an Art Director. At 10+2 level, you can choose any discipline (arts/ science/ commerce) to pursue the Art Director courses. 
• And after the 10+2, you can choose diploma or undergraduate degree courses in Graphic Design or Fine Arts. 
• There are some certificate courses too for interested learners. 
• You can also choose the certificate course in graphic design and fine arts whose duration is 6 months to 1 year.

Entrance Exam Preparation

• The candidates might have to sit for an entrance exam to pursue the courses.
• Study hard and practise previous year questions to pass the exam. Some popular graphic design and fine arts entrance exams conducted at the institution level or college level are- NID entrance exam, UCEED entrance exam, Pearl academy entrance exam, CEED entrance, MITID DAT entrance exam, and many more.

Selecting Colleges

• After the 10+2 exam, select a good college or institution with good academic quality and placement cell to pursue the graphic design or fine arts courses.
• There are a vast number of colleges in India that are offering graphic design and fine arts courses at Diploma level, UG level, PG level and Doctoral level. 

After Qualifying Exam

• After qualifying for the entrance exams, the examination authority will call you for a personal interview and document verification and after that, you can take admission in the respective department.

Types of Art Director

A graphic designing or fine arts student can choose any other jobs which are also like the Art Director position. Those jobs are mentioned below in brief.

Art Director

• The daily task of the Art Directors is to train and assign the projects to the employees and also to make schedules and set a time limit to complete the project. 
• They also have to approve the design and art which are developed by the employees. 
• The salary of an Art Director in India is approx. INR 5,00,000 to INR 8,00,000 per annum.

Graphic Designer

• They are responsible for designing and developing the layouts for advertising companies, magazines, websites etc. 
• They have to work on the creation of the layouts using designing elements. 
• The size, style, which elements to be used to design a logo are all decided by the graphic designers.
• Graphic Designers earn around INR 4,00,000 to INR 7,00,000 per annum in India.

Exhibition Designer

• Exhibition Designers functions are to design and create exhibitions for private businesses, libraries, museums and public events and conferences.
• Their remuneration in this field is approx. INR 6,00,000 to INR 12,00,000 per annum in Indian companies and business organizations.

Check: Designing Courses

Illustrators

• An Illustrator job is to illustrate a particular design and photograph to convince and entertain a customer to take the products. And for that, you must have excellent communication skills.
• The Illustrators get INR 1,20,000 to INR 7,70,000 per annum for the Illustrator job profile in India.

Layout Artist

• Layout Artists are also a part of the Art Director job. Here the layout artists have to design and create layouts, characters and plots for 3D animation.
• A Layout Artist earns an average annual salary of INR 5,00,000 to INR 9,00,000 per annum.

How to Become an Art Director after 12th?

After 12th, you can choose a Diploma or Degree level course to pursue a graphic designing or fine arts course.

UG Level Preparation

• A minimum of 55% marks in 10+2 board examinations are required to pursue the Graphic designing courses

PG Level Preparation

• In the UG courses in graphic designing or fine arts, you must score 6.5 CGPA or a minimum of 60% marks to pursue a higher degree in the respective course.

Courses to Become an Art Director

The courses to become an Art Director are offered at diploma, certificate, UG level, PG level and doctoral level. The most popular courses chosen by the students every year are mentioned briefly below.

Bachelor of Visual Arts

• Bachelor of Visual Arts is a 4-year duration full-time undergraduate degree program that can be pursued after 10+2 grade. 
• The main subjects of this course are drawing, painting, sculpture making, video and film-making, designing layouts etc.

Admission Process

• To get admission to this course, a minimum of 45% to 55% marks are required in the higher secondary examinations (HSC).

Eligibility Criteria for the Exam

• Students from any discipline (arts/ science/ commerce) can take admission in the BVA course
• Minimum marks requirement for the entrance examination is to score a minimum of 45% to 55% in previous qualification

BSc in Graphic Designing

• BSc in Graphic Designing is a full-time degree course that deals with designing graphics, arts for advertising, packaging and other commercial companies. The total course duration is 3 years.

Admission Process

• The admission is based on merit but some colleges also consider entrance exam scores such as NID DAT for shortlisting the candidates.

Eligibility Criteria for the Exam

• A minimum of 55% marks are required in 10+2 from any stream
• English proficiency is a must for the Graphic Designing courses

Diploma in Graphic Design and Creative Media

• Diploma in Graphic Design and Creative Media is a 1-year duration diploma course, which focuses on designing and developing arts and photographs for multimedia, and gaming programs.

Admission Process

• Admission is purely based on merit scores of candidates in their previous qualifying exams, i.e. 10+2 board examinations.

Check: Free Graphic Design Courses

BA in Fine Arts

• Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (BA FA) is an undergraduate degree program that covers the history of arts, graphic designing, graphic printmaking, aesthetics, photography and art, calligraphy, illustration of the designs and photographs, architecture and the visual arts, ceramic and moulds etc.

Admission Process

• Admission to this course is done based on both merit and entrance examinations. Some universities such as Andhra University (AU) conduct their own entrance exam for shortlisting candidates based on their entrance scores

Eligibility Criteria for the Exam

• Students from any stream with a minimum of 55% marks in their 10+2 are eligible for the below-mentioned entrance exams to get admission in the BA Fine Arts courses.

Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design

• Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design is a 2-year duration PG degree course, which can be pursued after a UG degree in graphic designing. 
• In this course, students get to learn the various skills required in fine arts and graphic designing, like, craft making, designing, critical thinking, contemporary design discourse etc. 

Admission Process

• Admission is based on both merit basis and entrance exam. 
• The exams are conducted at the national level, university level and state level.
• Some of the popular entrance exams and the exam date are briefly mentioned below given the table.

Eligibility Criteria for the Exam

• Students who have passed Undergraduate degree in Fine Arts are eligible to take this course
• At least 55% marks are required in the previous qualification to apply for the course

Check: MFA Applied Arts

How to Become an Art Director Abroad?

To work as an Art Director abroad, the candidates must complete at least the graduation level courses in graphic designing and fine arts. 

• Before going abroad, the candidates must have a VISA to work in any foreign country. 
• The candidates also must pass the IELTS English Language Test to work or study in the foreign countries.

How to Become an Art Director in the UK?

To become an Art Director in the UK, the candidates must pursue the A-level in fine arts, and graphic designing or film-making courses.

• Every year, around 44,000 international students go to the UK to study graphic designing and creative or fine arts.
• There are more than 100 colleges and universities in the UK that are offering Diploma/ UG/ PG courses in visual arts, graphic designing and fine arts.
• The courses that the top universities in the UK offer are namely BA in Graphic Design, MA in Graphic Design, BA in Creative Arts, BSc in Visual Arts etc.
• An apprenticeship is also required to apply for the Art Director post. If you can complete a certificate course in designing and fine arts, that will be helpful for you to find a job.

• The average salary package offered to the Art Directors is around INR 48,91,860 in the UK.

Top Colleges in the UK

How to Become an Art Director in Canada?

To make a career as an Art Director in Canada, the minimum eligibility criteria is to be a holder of a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design or Fine Arts. 

• The candidates must have several years of working experience as a graphic designer, illustrator, fine artist, creative director, etc. 
• Along with the educational qualification and working experience, students must apply for a Visa to work in Canada.
• There are more than 90 top colleges in Canada that are offering graphic designing, fine arts and visual arts courses at bachelor or master’s level
• More than 1,00,000 students are studying in Canada to make a career as an Art Director
• And in every college, more than 1,000 students are studying various graphic designing, fine arts courses to become an Art Director
• Some popular courses offered by the universities to become an Art director are: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking and Publications, Diploma in Graphic Communications Technology Management, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, Master of Fine Arts in Studio Arts etc.
• The average annual salary as an Art Director is INR 43,93,055 per year in Canada.

Top Colleges in Canada

How to Become an Art Director in Australia?

Bachelor Degree holders in graphic design or fine arts courses are eligible to become Art Directors in Australia. 

• Before applying for the Art Director post, the candidates must have to earn experience in this field and must develop a portfolio to show their working experience and growth in the field. 
• Candidates must get a work Visa and English proficiency test- IELTS, TOEFL etc. certificate to work as an Art Director in Australia.
• There are a total of 33 colleges in Australia that are offering graphic designing courses and around 15 colleges that are offering visual arts or fine arts courses in the country
• Almost 2,00,000 students are studying in Australia to pursue degree courses in graphic designing
• Some popular courses offered by top Universities of Australia to become an Art Director are: Master of Design, Bachelor of Communication in Advertising, Bachelor of Graphic Design, Master of Fine Arts etc.
• If a candidate can earn experience in this field, then they can be an Art Director in Australia
• The average salary of an Art Director in Australia is INR 48,76,214 per annum.

Top Colleges in Australia

Benefits of Career as an Art Director

An Art Director gets numerous benefits in terms of experience, job security, salary and much more. Read each of these points discussed below in detail.

Salary

• The payment paid to the Art Director is quite high and it is regarded as one of the most expensive jobs in the job market. 
• They earn around INR 3,00,000 to INR 5,00,000 at the starting of their career. The salary package increases with the increase in level of experience in this field.

Job Security

• The skilled and experienced Art Directors have job security in this field. And the fresher must work hard to get a higher position as an Art Director in any company

Higher Studies

• Students can also choose to go for higher education instead of joining the working environment. 
• The higher degrees are: MA in Visual Arts, MSc in Fine Arts, BSc in Graphic Design and Fine Arts.

Unique Experience

• The task of the Art Director is quite challenging but rewarding. 
• They oversee the works of other employees of the company and also help in designing, creating and in the process of designing layouts of the projects. 

Check: BFA Painting Course

Skills Required to Become an Art Director

The highly-required skills one must have to work in the graphic designing field as an Art Director are tabulated below.

Check: MFA Painting

Salary of an Art Director in India

The remuneration is different for different employees working under different companies and experience-wise. The average annual salary for the Art Director based on the organizations, specializations, experience etc. are discussed below.

Organization Wise Salary

Specialization Wise Salary

Gender Wise Salary

Experience Wise Salary