I have that picture in my mind of the ape evolving into the human, and it has made me think about my time as an art director. When I first got into this business, I would sit in a room with a writer and have fun—think of ideas, write headlines, draw pictures…..invent FIRE (figuratively speaking)!!! That was it. That was our sole purpose for being. And life was good. “The quirky creatives” we were called. We usually got a lot of time to come up with ideas and presented them as pencil drawings! Sometimes we even used actual rub-off type that you press down with a tool that looked like a tongue depressor. We had pool tables and hallway bowling. (Seriously.)
Boy have things changed.
During one of my “tired of learning new stuff” moments, Tracy said to me “Trish, you have to keep up with this stuff. I mean, would you want to go to a doctor that is still practicing based on what he learned 20 years ago?” That’s when it really hit me. And I started to think about how the role of the art director has changed.
It seems like just as we feel we have perfected a certain aspect to our business, another ball gets thrown at us. Can we not ever just sit back and bask in the glory of having “learned it all” while watching the green amateurs struggle?
In our dreams. In fact, sometimes it’s the young ones that are laughing at the veterans who type with one finger and feel good because they’ve mastered the clone tool in Photoshop. Dang them! Admittedly, the veterans are constantly thinking…”NO, not another upgrade! Not another program! Please stop the madness!!!!!!”
We pride ourselves on the fact that most of the young art directors today don’t know what “rubylith” is or couldn’t fathom constructing a “mechanical” (many are googling the word “rubylith” right now) but who cares. They don’t need to know. They’re lucky! Those things were a pain in the bahonkus. (As my kids would say.)
Having said all that, here is my run down on how things have changed and how they have stayed the same.
How things have changed:
1. We don’t have to learn technology, we have to embrace it.
2. We can’t just be good art directors, we have to be great designers, too. Meaning, when I first got into the business, in my opinion, there was a distinct difference between Art Directors and Designers. Art directors worked at ad agencies; designers at design boutiques. Now both entities do both jobs. Years ago, advertising was mainly about the message with a “nice” design to support it. Now the design has become as important as the message.
3. Webcasts, podcasts, program tutorials, digital newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. We have gone from no body copy on the ad to internet marketing that is all about content–good, meaty, valuable content; from “nobody reads the copy” (sorry writer friends) to “it’s the copy (content) that will get you results.”
4. We have to wear a lot of hats. (Actually, maybe this has just been MY evolution.)
5. Updating our portfolio is a matter of uploading a new graphic. (Gotta love that!)
OK – I’m tired of thinking of things.
How they’ve stayed the same:
1. We still have to clearly understand the client’s message and strategy.
2. We still have to be creative. (Duh) But you’d be amazed how that gets forgotten.
3. Great results still start with great strategic thinking.
4. We still want to play pool.
I wonder if the art directors of 2050 will laugh about our archaic ftp uploads, and mock our iPhones as we do with the 8-track tapes.
I guess only time will tell.
by Trish McCabe
