I’ve been thinking about my place in this monster we call the advertising industry and how to best position myself with its growing demands. While the demand for interactive skills is growing at an exponential rate, should art directors segment themselves into interactive and traditional roles.
The nature of someone who enters the art or design field is typically one of a more free spirit or even a little rebellious. They’ve resisted labels much of their life and it seems odd that they would be prone to accept them now. While I do enjoy doing digital work I wouldn’t want to be pigeon-holed into doing it exclusively.
As the need for digital grows the new breed of art directors emerging don’t see it as a specialty, but simply another tool in their toolbox, no different than print. Where we will start seeing some segmentation is in art directors making a move into the role of digital strategist. Those who enjoy the production side will think and develop across all mediums, while the more analytical of us may decide to leave the production and design to others and focus more of our attention on the strategy of this continually evolving interactive landscape.
So how will I position myself in these changing times. You always want to show the type of work that you would like to do someday. The key to not being pigeon-holed into a strictly digital role is by making sure my book is filled with mult-platform campaigns. Showing an ability to design great print and alternative ads that neatly blend with high-tech executions and extensions of the main concept. Doing this successfully will instill confidence in clients and employers that I have the ability to work on all aspects of the campaign.