Overview

The Creative Director/Art Director functions as the senior representative of the agency on a given piece of business, group or discipline. They are responsible for developing close relationships with top client management. Will be responsible for overseeing and directing the visual aspects of creative projects, ensuring high-quality and impactful designs across various mediums. This role requires strong creative vision, leadership skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Develop and communicate a cohesive and forward-thinking creative vision that aligns with the overall brand strategy.
• Provide creative leadership and guidance to multiple teams, including art directors, designers, copywriters, and other creative professionals.

Conceptualization and Ideation

• Lead brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas and concepts for campaigns, projects, and brand initiatives.
• Foster a culture of creativity and collaboration within the creative team.

Art Direction

• Oversee the development of visual concepts, ensuring they align with brand guidelines and effectively communicate the desired message.
• Review and approve visual assets, providing feedback to enhance creativity and alignment with project goals.

Client Collaboration

• Collaborate closely with clients, marketing teams, and other stakeholders to understand business objectives, brand identity, and target audience.
• Present creative concepts and strategies to clients, incorporating feedback and ensuring client satisfaction.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with other departments, including marketing, product development, and communications, to ensure creative solutions integrate seamlessly into broader strategies.

Trend Awareness

• Stay informed about industry trends, design innovations, and cultural shifts to bring fresh and relevant ideas to the creative process.
• Incorporate insights into creative strategies to maintain a competitive edge.

Specific Creative Responsibility

• The Creative Director is responsible for concepting and creative on assigned accounts.
• Develop concepts that reflect strategy; are appropriate for the brand/product personality and are extremely creative.
• Establish standards and lead effort to continuously improve agencies creative quality.
• Review, edit and refine creative from concept to production to ensure a top quality end product.
• Understands digital and social media and emerging technology design needs.
• Work seamlessly with team members to ensure art direction/design integrity for the final product.
• Lead creative presentations to clients and/or internal creative reviews.
• Remain current with and communicate industry trends and techniques.
• Helps solve resource needs by recommending, evaluating and assisting in hiring freelance and full-time hires.

Internal Agency Responsibilities

The Creative Director has specific internal agency responsibilities that set an example for the entire account group.

• Training
  • Provide structured and unstructured training opportunities for members of the creative group to learn the next level up and what they need to achieve to be successful.
  • Direct and guide fellow creatives in brainstorming and development, providing clear/objective critiques during the process.
• Utilization of Agency Resources – Effectively manage the agency’s resources and relationships with other departments in the agency.
• Administration – Adhere to and support agency/departmental policies and systems and assist the ECD/CCO in providing leadership within the creative department.

Agency Corporate Responsibilities

The Creative Director has a responsibility to the corporation as a whole.

• Agency Representative in the Community – Represent Yamamoto positively in the business and advertising communities
• Agency Growth – Assist in pursuing new opportunities with assigned clients and new business initiatives
• Agency Commitment – Demonstrate loyalty to the agency
• Agency Culture – Demonstrate agency core values: curious, creative and courageous
  • Curious: We never stop learning or exploring.
  • Creative: We light up the room with engaging imagination.
  • Courageous: We are fearless and are up for any challenge.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Fine Arts, Marketing, or a related field.
• 7 years in the industry
• 4 years of experience managing teams
• Extensive experience in a creative leadership role, with a focus on art direction.
• Proven ability to lead and inspire creative teams to produce high-quality work.
• Strong conceptual thinking and strategic planning skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities.
• Proficiency in design software, such as Adobe Creative Suite.
• Portfolio demonstrating a diverse range of successful creative projects.

Hybrid Policy

This position is a hybrid role with 50% of your weekly hours spent in our office.