Back to Arts Careers
ADVERTISING
- Advertising - Media Sales (Humber)
- Advertising and Graphic Design (Humber)
- Advertising Director
- Advertising Media Management (Centennial)
- Art Director
- Copywriter
- Layout Artist
- Photographer
- Letterer
- Illustrator
Art Director:
The role of the Art Director in advertising is a most important one in the field, and it is the most widely held art career in the business. The ability to maintain a steady, creative working relationship with a copywriter is required for this job. As a team, they develop and design advertising campaigns based on demographic market research. This research tells them at what kind of audience to aim their campaign. Then they apply their creative intuition and imagination in order to find original ways to execute their advertising. Once developed, the campaign must be approved by the account executive and the creative director. Then it is presented to the client. The art director executes the final ad using type with illustration by an artist of his choice
Copywriter:
The strict art career in advertising is that of the Art Director, but a Copywriter's job - dealing with words and writing - is strongly connected to design and visuals. People who write copy are not necessarily writers. Often some of the best copywriters are those whose backgrounds are in commercial art. The copywriter creates the words that accompany the pictures in print advertisements and television visuals. The copywriter is expected to come up with concepts that include both copy and visuals either alone or in working with an art director. It is valuable for a copywriter to know the ins and outs of print production (newspapers, magazines and annual reports) as well as the production aspects of film, radio & video tape
Layout Artists:
Layout Artists create the visual aspects of advertising in magazine and newspaper ads, television commercials, and product packaging. They select photographs, draw illustrations, and decide on the colors and style of type to be used. They also prepare samples of art work for account executives who are planning advertising campaigns with clients and prospective clients.
Using materials received from the Art Director, the person who prepares art for reproduction must be able to follow accurately the art director's instructions. With these materials, a mechanical is prepared. This is done by pasting up type and pictures on an illustration board. Sometimes the mechanical artist is asked to execute design elements as well. When finished, the mechanical must appear exactly as the ad will look when reproduced. One who does paste ups and mechanical must have excellent manual dexterity, drafting skills, and eye for spacing type, thorough knowledge of reproduction techniques, and the ability to work with painstaking precision.
Photographer:
See Section on "Photography"
Letterer:
The letterer must understand and execute both built-up and calligraphic letter forms and be able to design new lettering. Knowledge of the history of lettering is necessary. In most instances, the letterer would work on a free lance basis. Absolute precision, expert draftsmanship, and a highly refined sense of proportion, letterspacing, and the inter- relationships of words and letters are required.
Illustrator:
See Section on "Illustration"
Architecture
- Architect
- Architectural Graphic Designer
- Architectural Renderer
- Architectural Studies (George Brown)
- Architectural Technician (Centennial)
- Architectural Technology(co-op) (Centennial, Humber)
- Architectural Technology(non co-op) (Centennial)
- Landscape Architect
- Architectural model builder
Architect:
An architect designs buildings and other structures - anything from a private home to a large office building or an entire city's re-development. He/she must oversee all phases of the project from initial idea to completed structure, and must solve complex, technical problems while retaining artistic design.
Architectural Graphic Designer:
Working with architects, this artist uses type and color to design the graphic symbols that identify buildings. Depending on the purpose of a building or complex of buildings, he may also design presentation brochures, stationery, marquees, or shopping bags. The job requires color reproduction skill, a knowledge of typography, and an understanding of contemporary architecture and building materials.
Architectural Renderer:
This artist creates a realistic, accurate drawing or painting of a building or interior for presentation by the architect to the client. The renderer usually works for an architectural firm, but he might also deal with city planners and independent site developers.
Among the basic skills necessary is the ability to accurately pictorialize building and indoor furnishing materials in pen and ink, colored pencil, and watercolor. Precise drawing and painting are required, as well as attractive architectural lettering.
Landscape Architects:
Landscape Architects design the built environment of our neighborhoods, towns and cities while they protect and manage the natural environment of our forests, fields, rivers and coasts. They have a special commitment to improving the quality of our lives through the best design of places for people.
ART THERAPY
Art Therapists:
Talented art students who don't want to isolate themselves in a studio, who want to work with people as well as art, and who have a lot of patience, can be trained to help the emotionally disturbed as part of a therapeutic team headed by a psychiatrist. The Art Therapist must be both artist and practitioner to fulfill the functions which legitimately lie within the range of the profession. They work with people of all ages with varying degrees of functional or organic impairment, or with normal populations in schools and growth centers. They may practice with individuals, groups and/or families in the following clinical, educational or rehabilitative settings: private psychiatric hospitals & clinics, mental health centers, geriatric centers & prisons. Other work in private public schools and institutions for emotionally disturbed, deaf, blind, physically handicapped and disabled children. A few therapists work with the physically ill.
FASHION
- Fabric or Textile designer
- Fashion (Ryerson, George Brown)
- Fashion Art Director
- Fashion Arts Business Management (Humber)
- Fashion designer
- Fashion illustrator
Fashion Designers:
Fashion and clothing designers create new styles or adjust and change existing styles. They may work in men's, women's or children's clothing design. Designers work with sketches or directly with fabric in creating a design. They must understand color, fabrics, production processes and costs, as well as the public's tastes and preferences. Many designers work on one type of apparel such as sports clothes or evening wear. People who want a career in designing often take any job they can in the fashion field to get a start. The field is popular and always has more new talent than it can adequately support.
Fashion Illustrators:
Fashion illustrators draw models wearing the latest fashions. They also do accessories such as gloves, handbags & hats. The artwork appears in catalogs, newspapers, magazines & television commercials. Most are free-lancers. Others are staff members of clothing manufacturers, fashion designers, mail-order firms, or department stores. A definitive style and excellent technique are required.
Art Director:
The fashion art director is employed by an advertising agency which may be devoted solely to fashion, producing ads showing fashion items for department stores and for fabric, jewelry, or clothing manufacturers. This art director must choose photographs, models and illustrators with whom to work in the production stage of the ad. The fashion art director sees the ad through the reproduction phase, using type and layout. A concern for what is "au-courant" in dress is necessary.
Fabric Designer:
Fabric designers are the ones who create the printed patterns that appear on dress fabrics, blouses, scarves, upholstery, curtains and dozens of other things we wear or buy for our homes. They may also create wallpaper, develop decorative patterns on wall and floor tiles, and design rugs, knitted and embroidered fabrics, shower curtains, lamp shades, towels, linens for the bedroom and dining room, wrapping paper, decorative screens and wall hangings, wallboard and any surface that might be enriched by design.
Film and Television
Visual artists who go into this area should be trained in communications or media arts programs in addition to art.
Art Director:
The film art director is responsible for the authenticity of sets, costumes, props, and locations - and sometimes for the design itself. The job requires all that the theatre set designer's job requires plus knowledge of motion picture history and technique.
TV Electronic Designer:
This designer explores the use of video tape, computers and advanced electronics in pursuit of making a cohesive film. He must have a thorough knowledge of the latest in electronics technology, and he must be imaginative and resourceful in applying this knowledge to new approaches in this field. He may work on a free-lance basis or in a small
Animator:
Careers in animation are a blending of the disciplines of graphic arts and film. Designers and illustrators often create the still visuals. From this, the animator creates the movement, i.e., gives life or "animation" to the character. The illustration and design skills are most important to the creation of characters that will animate well. Serious animation professionals are fine graphic artists, as well as creative filmmakers.
GRAPHIC DESIGN
- Graphic Designer
- Corporate Art Director
- Promotion Designer
- Municipal Graphic Designer
- Record Cover Designer
- Letterer
- Audiovisual Producer
- Illustrator 0 Editorial, Product, Storyboard, Fashion, Freelance, Technical, Medical
- Cartooning
- Caricature
- Mural Designers
Graphic Designer:
The graphic designer often works on a free-lance basis designing magazines, ads, and promotional material. The job requires familiarity with type, color, layout and methods of reproduction. One must be able to work with illustrators, photographers, letterers, typesetters, and printers because a job must be supervised through every phase from rough sketch to final production. A high degree of organizational ability is necessary.
Corporate Art Director:
The corporate art director establishes an image for a company and maintains it in all printed work which represents the organization. Using type, design, and color, the artist devises a logotype or symbol which provides immediate recognition for the company. This may appear on business forms, stationery, brochures, delivery trucks, the office door or wall, in the lobby of the building, and on product packaging.
Promotion Designer:
This designer works for a specific company and designs the material necessary to sell the company's services or products, with the exception of consumer advertising. The output may include brochures, slide presentations, catalogues, posters and direct mailing pieces. He then assigns work to free-lance photographers, illustrators and letterers and must establish and maintain satisfactory working relationships with many others. One needs to be able to design, lay out, create rough drawings, use type and color well, and be thoroughly familiar with production methods and reproduction techniques.
Municipal Graphic Designer:
This person designs signs and symbols for a city in order to make travel directions and locations clearly understood even to people unfamiliar with the city and its language. The work appears in parks, municipal buildings, on city vehicles, subway systems and in bus stations.
Record Cover Designer:
This designer does the graphic design of record album covers, designing the visual counterpart of the musical mood of the music. A design decision is arrived at with the input of the record company sales department, respecting wishes of the featured recording artist. This person must be aware of the current musical trends.
Letterer:
The letterer must understand and execute both built-up and calligraphic letter forms and be able to design new lettering. Knowledge of the history of lettering is necessary. In most instances, the letterer would work on a free-lance basis for advertising agencies, promotion departments, and package designers. With the increasing use of photo- graphic typesetting, the need for letterers who can also design type is increasing. Absolute precision, expert draftsmanship, and a highly refined sense of proportion, letterspacing, and the interrelationships of words and letters are required. This job demands precision and very steady hands.
Audio Visual Designer:
In audio visual design, the artist generally creates educational or sales presentations. A client submits a script which must be illustrated with a series of drawings, collages, or typographic images calculated to reproduce well in slide form. These pictures symbolically or illustratively present the ideas put forth in the script. The designer sees the slides through the production phase, organizes them to follow the script, and adds the sound track necessary to complete the presentation.
Illustrators
are graphic artists. Their work appears in books, magazines, papers and television ads. They illustrate posters, calendars, greeting cards, and comic books. They draw pictures for soup can labels and cereal boxes. They illustrate catalogs, technical manuals, and medical texts. They draw for children's story books and school history books. Your style, your interests, and "the breaks" will determine what field of illustration you choose.
Editorial Illustrators:
Generally, this is free-lance work. The artist illustrates magazine-and newspaper articles as well as advertisements. The art director and the illustrator decide which important point in the copy should be illustrated. The illustrator then executes a drawing, painting, or collage in a unique personal style to illustrate the focal point of the copy.
Product Illustrator:
Most often this is free-lance work. The artist usually works with advertising agencies. In order to create a finished drawing or painting of a product, precision, drafting ability, and the capacity to render varied materials realistically are required.
Storyboard Illustrator:
This illustrator may be employed in large ad agencies or may work free-lance. Taking the agency art director's roughs, he develops finished drawings for presentation of a potential TV commercial or industrial film to a client. This series of drawings, which illustrates the progress of the action, is called a storyboard. The appropriate dialogue is typed underneath each drawing. This gives the client an idea of how a film might look before the client undertakes the expense of production. This technique can also be used to illustrate a potential TV pilot. Since multiple drawings must be produced within a short period of time, the artist must work rapidly and carefully, using economy of means to suggest detail.
Cartooning:
This field of illustration is familiar to everyone. There are as many variations in style as there are cartoonists. Each has a unique humorous or dramatic point of view and the ability to illustrate it in a direct and economical pen and ink technique. In most cases, the ability to write is essential. The cartoonist may do spot drawings or gag or satirical cartoons on a free-lance basis. He may have a staff job for a publication, or he may be syndicated as a comic strip artist or political cartoonist. In any case, the ability to sustain a high level of humor or drama over a long period of time is vital.
Caricature:
The Caricaturist is primarily a free-lance artist who works for newspapers and magazines, but he may also be called upon to illustrate advertising. While similar to the cartoonist in skill, the caricaturist also has a special ability to emphasize facial and body features in a drawing in order to create a comic but completely recognizable drawing of a particular individual.
Animation:
The animator has grown in popularity with the tremendous burgeoning of the television medium, and there are many companies who produce for advertising agencies. Another area which we know well is in movies dealing, specifically with cartoon. There has been a new growth in the use of animation in full length features, as well as the continuing use of the cartoon material.
Fashion Illustrators:
Fashion Illustrators are among others who work only in one subject. They draw models wearing the latest fashions. They also do accessories such as gloves, handbags, and hats. Their artwork appears in catalogs, newspapers, magazines, and television commercials. Most are free-lancers. Others are staff members of clothing manufacturers, fashion designers, mail-order firms, or department stores.
Free-Lance Illustrators:
Free-lance illustrators may do many kinds of artwork or they may produce only one kind. Most illustrators do not start in staff positions doing illustrations. Many begin free-lance work right after graduation. Some may get staff jobs in related fields as they build up their portfolios. As a rule, illustrators work for many clients, instead of one company. They line up jobs and plan their work so that they will be busy but not rushed. Some artists call on art directors, show samples of their work, and get assignments. Other artists hire agents (called reps) to get work for them. Well-known free-lance illustrators have clients who come to them. Free-lancing is the aim of many illustrators. This work lets them do the kind of illustrations they like best and allows them to schedule their own work load. Many of them travel or do assignments by mail. They may develop a unique style and do only one kind of illustration such as animals, children, home furnishings, or fashions. Free-lancers do all the tasks of an assignment. They get the job, buy supplies, hire models, do the project (from rough sketch to finished illustration), and deliver it. Some have aides who fill in color or background, add lettering, or do other tasks. Some free-lancers have agents who acquire jobs for them to do.
Technical Illustrators:
Technical illustrators, who do most of their work in black and white, also use drafting tools and machines. Their work may consist of layouts showing how to install equipment, diagrams for wiring, or perspective and cutaway views of machines. They study blueprints, models, engineers' drawings, and equipment to make sketches. They often use computer-aided design techniques.
Medical Illustrators:
Medical illustration is used in textbooks, magazines, charts, and advertising directed to the medical profession. This work demands both a scientific and an artistic knowledge of anatomy. Precise and accurate draftsmanship combined with a realistic style is necessary.
Mural Designers:
The primary application for the mural is in hotels, restaurants, and residences. One must have the ability to emulate various artistic styles. Excellent painting technique is required. One should approach this field with an education in fine art and art history. muralist usually works with an interior designer.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Industrial design is the imaginative development of manufactured products and product systems which satisfy the physical needs and psychological desires of people.
Product Designer:
Product design requires a background in art and engineering. This designer must know the proper application of specific materials to particular functions., and must be able to design a product which performs well, is attractive to the consumer, and is economical to manufacture. Design ability, precision draftsmanship, model-building, and a knowledge of type and color are required.
Package Designer:
Most products need a package, and every package must be designed. The package creates graphic design in three dimensions. All new developments in materials that have an application to packaging must be studied. The ability to create new and different ways to package things is important. The package designer must be familiar with production and printing methods, and know how to use color and type for maximum effect in attracting a consumer to a product. He must be able to relate the package design to the nature of the product it holds. Precision drawing with tools and excellent lettering skills are required.
Toy Designer:
A toy designer must function in many areas. He must know
something about the proper use of materials in relation to safety, durability, and ease of maintenance. He must possess mechanical skill and a love of gadgetry. He should be able to work with experts in the field of child psychology and be knowledgeable about the levels of skill development in children at specific ages. In addition, he must be able to use graphic design, type, mechanical drawing, and color effectively. Imagination and a sensitivity to color are specifically valuable.
Furniture Designer: T
he pursuit of this profession requires some knowledge of the areas of architectural design, interior design, and carpentry. In addition, a furniture designer should be familiar with the history of furnishings, and should be aware of new developments in structural and decorative materials. Expertise in the use of color and textiles is necessary.
Interior Designer:
Interior designers used to be called interior decorators.
But the profession is rapidly abandoning the word decorator. As you'll soon see, decoration is just one of the designer's responsibilities. Interior designers select and organize the furnishings of homes and offices, as well as hotels, banks, restaurants, hospitals, schools and other public places. They determine what furnishings are needed, then decide where these will be located. They determine color schemes and choose furniture, fabrics, carpeting, wallpaper, lighting fixtures, and other items to fit into the plan. Designers prepare plans like those drawn by an architect, make sketches in color, and may even build scale models of fully furnished interiors to explain ideas to the client.
Department Store Display Designer:
Large department stores sometimes maintain a staff artist to design interior and window displays. In other cases, the work may be done on a free-lance basis. Mechanical drafting ability, carpentry skills, color study, and some knowledge of the history of art, furnishings and decoration are required. It is necessary to keep abreast of all new trends in textiles, furnishings and fine arts.
MUSEUM
- Exhibit and Museum Display Designer:
This kind of designer needs basic knowledge of graphic design, type, lettering, and color. Drafting, model building and carpentry skills are necessary. An understanding of architectural design is helpful, particularly in determining how best to move people through the display. A museum display designer must be able to design for any period in art history. An exhibit display designer must be versatile enough to produce displays for conventions, exhibits, and department stores to be used both inside and out-of-doors. Nowadays, many displays include interactivity - electronic and manual.
Discussion about this: http://ask.metafilter.com/48258/Museum-Display-Designer
About a designer: http://www.adaptivepath.com/events/2006/aug/abstracts/brennan.php
Sample course: http://www.gwu.edu/~mstd/Courses/core.htm
Another course: http://www.uarts.edu/academics/cad/ms/mepd.html
Like a teaching job, a job in an art museum rarely involves producing art. Museums (like schools) are educational institutions that collect works of art, conduct research and teach people about art. The main teaching medium of the museum is the exhibition, rather than classroom teaching, but organizing exhibitions is only one of many possible museum jobs The most publicized figures in the museum field are the Curators who buy works of art (or charm them away from weal-thy collectors as gifts or legacies); assemble works of art for exhibitions; supervise the installation of these exhibitions; write exhibition catalogs, which are becoming more and more elaborate these days, like small-scale art books; and lecture on the exhibitions they organize.
http://www.canadian-universities.net/Universities/Programs/Curatorial_and_Museum_Studies-Careers.html
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography is an art so new that artists still argue about whether photographs are really art. This debate will probably go on for years. But, we share the photo grapher's conviction that a camera, like a brush or a pencil, is just one more tool for creating pictures.
Advertising Photographer:
This photographer works with an agency art director to fulfill the demands of a layout for the advertisement. The layouts may be for a proposed magazine or newspaper page. It indicates all important details so the photographer has guidelines to create the finished photograph. The photographer hires models, finds locations for the photographs or helps design sets when necessary. Lighting, props, costumes are also essential parts of his/her responsibility. The technical and artistic skills to take the photograph are, of course, the major responsibility.
Fashion Photographer:
The fashion photographer arranges and photographs fashion merchandise displayed on a model or in a still life situation. The most prestigious and imaginative work is done for fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, etc. where pure fashion is often shown. Other work is done for department stores and advertising agencies to sell everything from cosmetics and clothes to fabrics and fashion furniture.
News Photographer:
Newspaper work is highly pressured. The photographer must be able to work under extraordinary conditions. For example, in scenes of human tragedy, and still maintain the objectivity necessary to spot a good shot and get it. Technique must be second nature so that the photographer can reach for the right camera and film in sometimes chaotic situations.
Product Photographer:
The product photographer specializes in taking a picture of a product for a client in such a way as to make it dramaticall appealing. At the same time, the purpose of the product must be made clearly understandable to the audience. The photographer may work for a magazine or for an advertiser; he may work in a studio or on location.
Architectural Photographer:
An architectural photographer photographs buildings and interiors. Contacts are usually made through architects. The photographs are used for annual reports and trade magazines. Architects often need photographs of work in progress from all angles. Magazines like "House Beautiful" , House and Garden", etc. often publish photographs by architectural photographers.
PUBLICATION DESIGN
Editorial Art Director:
The Editorial Art Director works for magazines and newspapers. Working in a format established with an editor or publisher, the artist must have the capacity to find the salient points of an article or story and conceptualize them with the illustrator or photographer who is hired to pictorialize the assignment. The editorial art director designs each page, balancing type, art, and photography.
Book Designer:
Expertise in the use of typography is required for this job. Book design requires the ability to take a typewritten manuscript and transform- form it into a typeset book. A knowledge of bookbinding is helpful. The job requires highly refined judgment with the ability to balance type and illustration on a page in order to produce the most effective publication possible.
Book Jacket Designer:
This artist may be employed by a studio specializing in book jacket design, or may work on a free-lance basis. The purpose of a book jacket design is to promote the sale of the book, using type either alone or in conjunction with photography or illustration. The book jacket designer needs a strong sense of design and a knowledge of the latest developments in typography and lettering.
TEACHING
In one sense, the most important art profession of all is art teaching. For it's teachers who discover and bring forth the hidden potential of the future artist, designer, or architect. Equally important, Art Teachers train the art public - building an audience for art by training people to understand and enjoy what the artist creates. What subjects you teach depends upon where you teach. In a primary or secondary school, you'll probably be expected to teach a wide variety of subjects. Particularly if you're the only art teacher in your school. You could teach drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, fabric design, stage design, fashion illustration, and perhaps even more. However, if the school is big enough to support more than one art teacher, then you may be able to specialize in a few favorite subjects.
FINE ART
A freelance artist makes his or her living by painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, which is a difficult way to make a living. You must have a passion for what you are doing, a thick skin, faith in yourself and lots of discipline. You may choose to make art as well has have a more traditional career that will allow you to support yourself, or make art that will fill a certain niche, such as murals or ketubahs. To increase your chance of becoming a commercial success, you may want to associate with a certain art gallery that will take a percentage of your work but also promote you in shows and displays. You may also enlarge your circle of aquaintences and potential buyers by holding classes. The government also has various grants to whih you can apply.
THEATRE
Artists who would like to apply their skills in a theatre setting would need to apprenticeship with theatre group. Artistic skill can be applied in creating sets, costumes, props, playbills and lighting.
Set Designer:
The artist must have a knowledge of drawing, plan drafting, painting, model building, carpentry, and lighting. The set designer usually creates a model of the proposed set, which is built by carpenters.
Costume Designer:
The costume designer must know all that the fashion designer must know. In addition, the ability to reconstruct costumes of various historical periods is necessary. Sometimes the costume designer is called upon to create highly imaginative, innovative costuming; and must be able to invent new ways of structuring costumes. Ideas must be sketched so that they may be understood by all colleagues. Supervision of costume construction is required.
Many of the definitions from http://www.msmc.la.edu/undergraduate-bachelor-programs/art/outcome.asp
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.