Do you need an Art Director

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Permalink Reply by Terri Stone on August 27, 2008 at 6:28pm

Shoot, did you ask this question just to evoke a bevy of passionate responses? Because I can passionately say YES, of course you need art directors!

Tools is Tools, and they don't come with a design sensibility built in.

Terri Stone
Admirer of Art Directors Everywhere

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Permalink Reply by Richard Michem on August 27, 2008 at 7:25pm

You reply, did not having anything to do with the fact you with a magazine, that features," Adobe InDesign" When someone want to published a magazine, they have in their head what the magazine will look like. Before software like InDesign, a publisher, would need an art director, to try and convent. Now, all they have to do is to learn to use it, a publisher can put their OWN DESIGN idea in practice.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Trombetto on August 28, 2008 at 9:43am

My keyboard has the ability to put words into a document and I'm pretty decent at typing - does that mean I am qualified to be a magazine writer?

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Permalink Reply by Richard Michem on August 28, 2008 at 12:33pm

Don"t know Dan, I would have to ask your editor.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Trombetto on August 28, 2008 at 1:35pm

To put it another way - just because you can use a hammer, doesn't make you a skilled carpenter, right? The hammer, just like InDesign, is a tool. Knowing how to use a tool, doesn't make you a craftsman.

Another factor to consider, is that you will certainly spread yourself thin if you try to take on all responsibilities of magazine creation.

But I suppose there are a few select scenarios that would allow you to go without an AD at all. A smaller, VERY template-driven pub might allow you to drop new copy in monthly and put out a new issue. But even then, there is a cover to design, potential spot illustrations and stock art to select. If you were adamant about no Art Director - I think at the very least you'd be wise to invest in a graphic designer to come in for a few days to clean up and polish the stuff you'd laid out yourself.

But in general - yes, I wholeheartedly feel that you DO need an Art Director!

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Permalink Reply by FOLIO MediaPRO Team on August 28, 2008 at 1:06pm

Unless the person is a designer, how can just anyone design a magazine and know how to use InDesign and Quark to produce a great looking magazine? Seems to me you need a designer, freelance or otherwise, to at least do your templates.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Michem on August 28, 2008 at 3:09pm

InDesign, and quark, has not been around forever. Neither have Art directors. The earlier publishers, with out ART TRAINING. Started their mags, by the seat of their pants?

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Permalink Reply by Dan Trombetto on August 28, 2008 at 4:49pm

The pioneers of any profession had no choice but to go forward without training - that's inherent with being a pioneer, isn't it?

We are fortunate to have training available these days. The publishing pioneers did not. Doctors once drilled holes in the heads of patients and removed parts of their brains in order to treat clinical depression and schizophrenia. They might be considered pioneers of their medical field - but it sure doesn't mean we should emulate their practices, does it?

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Permalink Reply by Bob Sadler on August 29, 2008 at 6:10am

A genuinely good AD can offer a lot more than just design. They can set the mood and an editorial point-of-view (and visual inspiration) that few editors really know how to do by themselves, nor should they have do. Their job is much too tasking as it is. Of course I am talking about print magazines that want to lead their perspective publishing areas, not just some junk that nobody really cares about one way or the other.

Also good art directors work with their editors to add to their editorial product in numerous ways beyond selecting the best photograph or hiring the right illustrator for a particular story. They become that editor's creative partner rather than just another member of their staff. Of course that takes vision and trust, which is to me the sign of a great editor.

In the 1970s, outside design stars like Herb Lublain and Milton Glaser (among others) were hired to re-design various magazines with set design formats. Editors thought they had it all worked out. Just follow these strict rules, grids and guide lines and bingo, your troubles were over. But was it? Sure for the first 3 or 4 issues that new design seemed exciting, but then soon became oddly dull or at least wanting, because of its constant graphic repetition that by its very nature allowed so little freedom of expression. The solution? After a couple of years when sales started diving to the basement, hire some other superstar and go through it all over again. It's a problem that is still with us today.

Of course, design programs like InDesign (which is far superior to Quark) offers a whole range of design opportunities that ADs of the paste-up mechanicals' past could only dream of. But it still needs taste and experience to know how to really use them.

Lastly, most ad agencies can usually tell when a magazine has the goods or not. So what you think you save by not using a quality art director can lead a good idea to possibly a very short life that satisfies nobody.

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Permalink Reply by Little Shiva on August 29, 2008 at 11:20am

Yay Bob! Thanx for standing up for art directors! I agree 100%.

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Permalink Reply by Liz Resko on September 12, 2008 at 12:29pm

I think that all depends, for a larger magazine, no question about it, you need an art director to guide the designers and maintain the look and feel of the mag, but also to establish some branding.

A smaller mag might need a god creative production person to keep things in line and keep things moving at first and then as the publication grows in circulation and page count you'd probably want to divide the labor into more specific jobs/personnel.

just my 2 cents!

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Permalink Reply by Adam Evans on September 12, 2008 at 11:08pm

Absolutely NOT! You do not need an art director... You can always sub it out to an Art Director someplace else and pay twice as much for out sourcing :-) I happen to be an Art Director and would love your business.

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