Art Director's job role within the magazine industry

For any magazine to be successful it has to appeal to the desired target audience. For example “Yachting World” magazine is targeted at men between the ages of 25-60 because of the content within the magazine. This magazine is action packed with articles about global sailing races, outstanding photography emphasising the adrenalin rush within the sailors and introducing lots of new boats and testing them against each other. The socioeconomic group in which the reader will be catergorised in is A and B referring to their status of wellbeing and class. This is due to the lifestyle which the reader will provide for themselves. Whereas another boating magazine such as “Boat Owner” is designed for the elder target audience, aged between 35 – 70 of which will still hold the same socioeconomic status however will be older because not all readers will have the capacity to race and be as interested. The boat owner is more about steady sailing, how to become a boat owner and helping the reader buy the best boat to suit their needs.

A magazine art director is responsible for overseeing the aspects of their design team for making the magazine look attractive. The director undertakes an important role within the magazine industry, making sure the final piece is appropriate for the desired target audience. The director will review the material produced by their art and design team to determine if it conforms to standards and specifications, they will have to attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained, another job is to hire, train and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing and it is very important to manage their own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.

In order to become an art director one will need at least five to seven years of experience in art or design for a magazine. Not only will the experience determine whether they're right for the job but one will need to show their own personal skills such as, showing they are creative through their own unique style and to have a good artistic sense. It is important that they are organised and have strong knowledge of graphic design and computer programs and in order to manage the creativity of a magazine the director must have and understanding of magazine journalism in being able to portray the connection between text and image. While they may not have journalism training, those Creative Directors who choose to work at magazines are interested in journalism. They enjoy the flow of words and ideas and the idea of collaborating to publish something tangible.

To become any role within the magazine industry one must have a portfolio presenting their skills. A portfolio is essential for aspiring creative director's who are interested in working at a magazine, they're portfolio should show a collection of their best samples of work, in order for one to build their first portfolio it is vital that there is experience within computer courses where they will learn how to use graphic design programs such as, Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXPress. The portfolio must show that one has creative vision and understands the technical skills to pursue the job.

The salary for an art director can range between £32,523 and £65,047. However, Art Directors who work for large magazine's earn considerably more ranging around £130,094 and more.