Freelance Creative Directors Tips

Big Ideas and Main Events

Freelance Art Directors

Interactive Creative Directors

Top Skills for Art Directors

Top Skills for Freelance Creative Directors

Why Go Freelance?

You're Not Alone

Big Ideas and Main Events
One common role for a freelance creative director is to produce an event for a client -- sales meeting, new product launch, etc. This is a big job and can be a lot of fun, but also calls for sharp people and project-management skills.

Often you'll be coordinating among the client (who wants the most bang for the buck); the client's marketing agency (who wants a successful event to boost their reputation); and the vendors and staffers needed to execute the event; and all the while trying to sustain the big ideas that sparked the whole thing in the first place.

This kind of work often involves working with creative teams producing videos, live entertainment, posters, PowerPoint presentations, and print and web products. It's a little like being at the center of a hurricane, but if you have the skills to pull it off, it's a great addition to your portfolio.

Freelance Art Directors
As a freelance art director, you'll be brought in as part of a team to work on a specific project, working with the creative director, one or more copywriters, and perhaps designers and programmers.

You'll also need to work directly with account executives, marketing staff, senior execs, and clients to understand the project's goals and help shape visual solutions.

In some situations, you'll be more of a project manager; in others, you'll be expected to do a significant amount of design production as well as relationship-building and strategy.

Interactive Creative Directors
If you have strong experience in web development and design, along with good people skills, you may find work available as a specialized kind of creative director.

In some organizations, creative directors find they need experienced help to oversee the interactive side of developing products, promotions, or advertising campaigns.

As an interactive creative director, your role would involve overseeing the developers and designers (many of them freelancers) who create interactive products, while coordinating with senior executives and creative staff overseeing other aspects of the same project.

Top Skills for Art Directors
Have your heart set on becoming an art director? Before you print our your business cards, make sure you master these skills:

• Strong people skills, including the ability to convey visual ideas to non-visually-oriented people
• Ability to connect visual ideas to business goals
• Thorough knowledge of technical processes for designated media (print, web, broadcast, events)
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Professional appearance and ability to interact positively with clients
• Ability to work well in teams
• Knowledge of key design software including Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Ability to manage multiple projects at the same time
  

Top Skills for Freelance Creative Directors
Employers who bring in a freelance creative director want someone who can implement their visions and manage the nitty-gritty of getting creative work done. Besides a great portfolio, here are some of the skills that will make you stand out:

• Expertise targeting a specific market (based on ethnicity, age, income, or geography)
• Up-to-date understanding of interactive media
• Proven ability to manage projects to completion on time and under budget
• Ability to manage and motivate creative personnel to get great results
• Strong collaborative skills including listening, teamwork, and communication
  

Why Go Freelance?
Those who aspire to be art directors and creative directors may not realize how stressful and political such jobs can often be -- to the point where freelancing can actually seem more secure than full-time work.

As a creative director with an agency, your career is shaped by that agency's clientele and level of success. As a freelancer, you have a great deal more control over where your career is headed. Want to do more with interactive media and less with print? Never want to do another auto ad? You have it within your power to find the clients who are doing the projects that interest you.

You're Not Alone
Did you know that more than half the art directors in the United States are self-employed or freelance? This means that many agencies and businesses are used to being able to bring in art directors on a per-project basis.

Of course, freelance jobs can lead to full-time employment, if an organization has an opening and is impressed with your work. In many cases, though, you may find yourself doing recurring projects for a few clients, perhaps developing relationships with other freelancers working on the same projects.

To impress these clients, you'll need to produce results -- designs and ideas that sell, delivered on time and under budget, with a professional demeanor and great people skills.