Skills
Art Director Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in art directors, and how to build and show them.
What skills do art directors need?
Art Directors need technical skills such as visual concept development, design direction, and typography and layout, plus people skills like leadership and presentation. They also use tools such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma.
Technical (hard) skills
- Visual concept development
- Design direction
- Typography and layout
- Photo and video direction
- Brand strategy
- Project management
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Presentation
- Creativity
- Collaboration
Tools, equipment and technology
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Figma
- Presentation software
- Project management tools
- Mood board tools
- Proofing software
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how art directors put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Visual concept development” and “Design direction.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Portfolio near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our art director glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Art Director training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.