Need guidance on how to art direct and influence nondesigners
I work for a small company where the staff all wear different hats.. managers become marketing directors, content managers, and often direct art. I am one of 3 graphic designers now art director trying to guide them and client, yet I'm often put into just a pixel pusher position where the marketing personal are managing the whole creative process it feels like. I need guidance and would love to see the process of a project - when and how feedback is given
Replies10
- @Georgina Artiga I think that's a very important thing to do. It might require some extra time on your side at the beginning, but people will eventually learn and start to understand why you chose to do something. It is also important because it proves that you know your stuff, and this will get you in a position where your professionality is respected.Just think it this way: you don't know much about marketing, so you don't interfere much in the marketing side of the business. So it should be the same for non-design people and the design process! Both sides can share their views and opinions of course, but it's important to understand boundaries and skills!
- @Pansy Aung im interested in this Background - Problem -Solution flow. I did start telling my co workers not to just look for campaigns that they like but rather look at what problem did that company solve for themselves.. thats what you meant right?
- @Rob Ashley thanks, as more situations arise the more I learn how to control them better.
- @Laura Bertinelli Totally I noticed that im having to teach them about design, ex. finding articles that prove why white space is crucial!
- @Javier Navarro Super helpful and it is true about collabortation. I noticed that when I push to get a more clear design brief then I can make sure that the feedback I recieve are based on it and not just personal choice.
- Hi Georgina,This is one of the most difficult things to navigate in a company.It feels to me that the two pillars you need to be very clear about are your role and the business mission (ethos, values, vision, etc.). Once this is clear then you need to take a position on how do you want to work around these. In my experience having a balanced approach of both collaboration and clarity is very helpful: we all have a set of eyes and grew up surrounded by things so be prepared to receive opinions, points of view, etct. however if you have your role and mission defined you can use them as an anchor and reflect all decision making against them.I also suggest to avoid the maze of personal opinions, in encouraging this you open an endless and often frustrating conversation.Not sure I answered your questions, probably need more specific information for an accurate feedback.Hope this helps!
- I have been in the same situtation multiple times, and sometimes still am.I really believe that it is important to set out the roles at the beginning of the project, ask all the questions and avoid all assumptions - this will make the project management a lot smoother.You must be able to back up your opinions with a good rationale; I find often that showing examples of what they want VS what I'd recommend is really useful, especially when I present them with a good explanation of my point of view.Once you can prove that you know your s**t and you are the professional designer, people will be more inclined to listen and respect your opinion!
- When you say you're put into a "pixel pusher" position, are your team asking you to do design work but not listening to your input? Are you involved with the very early stages of a brief?How you guide your team means learning to manage different personalities and working out how to get the best out of the people around you. Try to make decisions about where the project is going and be in meetings from the start. But sounds like you might need a discussion about roles within the team?There's lots of ways you can guide the client, and lots of talks online and articles etc about this, but perhaps get aligned with your team first?Good luck! If you want to discuss further, I run a platform which is aimed at supporting young creatives and would be happy to discuss further! You can reach us at https://www.instagram.com/weare_outspoken_/
- Such a common fight when working in-house! I think there's a balance to be found between marketing having clear goals and an idea of how to get there and you as art director guiding them visually on how to achieve what they want. It takes time but I guess you need to win trust. I think suggesting ways of working and ideas early on will help you look like you can do more than pixel push. Good luck!
- I often think of my role as a 'creative lawyer' because as an Art base creative lead, my job is to influence people from all sorts of background to buy and create my vision.Like most briefs, you need to guide your audience through your thinking process and how you come to this conclusion. Non creative people often assume we are 'impulsive thinker' so make them feel they're taking in a considered judgement. The easiest way is to present your arguement is in a Background - Problem -Solution flow.So if possible, start by giving them a few stats/refs of similar projects, tell them what the problem is with them (e.g. all too similar, no cut through if we follow them etc.) or how you are inspired by them, then state your solution/feedback. Don't go into design to proof your point straightaway, make sure you carve time to have a discussion before starting to help change the dynamic of the relationship.Hope that helps.
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