Creative department

There are three main roles in the creative department: art director, copywriter and creative director. Many agencies will also have in-house studios and employ designers and mac operators.

The art director works in tandem with a partner (who takes on the copywriter role) to devise the ideas that develop into ads – be they press, tv, web, radio etc.

Usually, but not always art-college trained, the art director has to respond to a creative brief (written by account management and/or planning) and will need to have the ability to communicate ideas or moods visually, starting with a blank sheet of paper!

The copywriter works together with the art director and may, or may not be, either art college trained or an English graduate. With both art directors and copywriters, the important qualification is talent – and the ability to demonstrate that talent by compiling a ‘book’ of example ads (see the Book Club). Again, the copywriter has to be able to respond to a creative brief but needs to communicate ideas in the written or verbal form.

Creative directors emerge from the creative department and need to develop People Management Skills in order to motivate and inspire their teams. They are constantly reviewing and appraising their teams’ work, giving advice as to how to fine-tune ideas. In terms of Advertising Skills, creative directors will keep abreast of developments in all media, both in production and consumption behaviour, and will also be knowledgeable about new talent available to the industry.