Art directors or creative directors produce artwork for advertising campaigns, magazines, television shows, films, websites and product packaging. Art directors often oversee a design team and ensure their creative executions meet clients’ objectives and remain faithful to the brand.

Becoming the first print magazine to enhance each image, editorial and advertisement with compelling interactive content sounds like no small feat. But for Rachel Gogel, former design director of GQ Advertising, creating a unique app that would bring the venerable men’s fashion magazine to life was par for the course. Just four months after jump-starting the project, Gogel and her team launched GQ Live!, an app that allowed readers to scan each print page with their mobile device’s camera and access digital extras such as animations, video trailers and social media.

The ability to deliver groundbreaking and inspiring conceptual ideas that work – while thinking across all media – is vital for design directors. "Being a designer or art director doesn’t mean what it used to," says Gogel, who has also taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York and previously worked as the creative director for The New York Times’ T Brand Studio. "You’re expected to know about print, web, tablets, social media – it’s no longer one-dimensional."

For Gogel, who now works as an independent consultant, being a design director in the publishing industry means all of the above and then some, with the brand always at the forefront of her decision-making. While being resilient to ever-changing timelines and requests and working in concert with numerous departments, Gogel must determine one visual message for a brand and maintain that image and voice throughout all her creative materials. "We represent the brand in everything that we produce, so it has to be of a certain quality," she says. Art directors communicate and coordinate with other departments, including sales, editorial, digital, research, marketing and merchandising, to ensure consistent brand messaging.

With experience, art directors will learn about time management, professionalism, punctuality and work ethic, as well as how to lead a group of artists who might have different visions take constructive criticism and collaborate as a team. "If you are a passionate and engaged individual who takes initiative and knows how to negotiate his or her worth to the company, you’ll be fine," Gogel says. "It also helps if you have a mentor at your job who can lend advice or vouch for you. A good level of confidence, talent and social skills will get you a long way."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 6.1% employment growth for art directors between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 8,200 jobs should open up.

Most art directors have at least a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of fine arts degree in art or design and at least five years of work experience. Depending on the industry, art directors may have worked as graphic designers, industrial designers, illustrators, copy editors, set designers or photographers before becoming art directors. Developing a portfolio – a collection of work demonstrating an artist’s styles and abilities – is essential. Managers and clients look at a designer’s portfolio when deciding whether to work with them.

Gogel, who was born and raised in Paris, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, where she majored in fine arts with a graphic design focus and minored in anthropology. After graduation, she did a two-week masters workshop in Italy through the School of Visual Arts and then settled in New York City to work in fashion, TV, film and publishing. Her list of clients ranged from Diane von Furstenberg and Sundance to Travel + Leisure. "This client list is the result of 4.5 years of freelancing and being open-minded about taking on all sorts of projects in order to build my portfolio," Gogel says. "I ended up accumulating experience and industry knowledge in a short amount of time." Gogel also says a background in marketing and communication, a basic understanding of business, and some production skills come in handy.