Art Direction

Art Direction

Direct creative work that extends the brand into specific deliverables. Photography, illustration, video, motion, campaigns, environmental design.

This skill assumes brand identity is approved (brand-identity complete). Art direction is about applying and extending it, not defining it.

When to use

• Briefing photographers, illustrators, videographers
• Developing campaign creative concepts
• Directing in-house creative teams
• Writing creative direction documents for vendors
• Evaluating creative deliverables for brand fit
• Adapting brand visual identity to a new format or context

When NOT to use

• Setting project-wide aesthetic direction across multiple downstream skills (use creative-direction instead). This skill briefs specific creative deliverables; creative-direction produces the structured aesthetic brief that this skill consumes.
• Defining brand visual identity from scratch (use brand-identity)
• Day-to-day component design (use design-standards)
• Writing copy for creative work (use content-and-copy or landing-page-copy)
• Building a design system (use design-system)

Required inputs

• The deliverable (photo shoot, illustration set, video, campaign)
• The brand identity (visual system, voice, imagery direction)
• The audience for this specific work
• The goal (brand awareness, conversion, education, emotional connection)
• Budget and timeline
• Distribution context (where it will be seen)

The framework: 5 layers