Art Direction
An advertising art director is a professional who is responsible for the creation and development of advertising ideas and their visual elements, like the layout, typography and the artwork. Art directors can work in advertising agencies, in-house for large brands, in branding or design firms, or even freelance for a lot of different companies. Our art direction track is designed to help you build the portfolio of spec work needed to get hired as an art director, in just 180 days.
Is It For You?
Do you spend a lot of time making things?
T-shirts, doodles, photographs, paintings, vector illustrations? Do you think so visually that it’s hard to settle on the PERFECT paint color for a room?
Do you love art and photography, but haven’t found a job where you can use that skill creatively?
Fate brought you here!
This program is for you! Art directors work to solve problems visually, like a graphic designer. They create the overall visual artistic feel of an ad campaign, focusing on the illustrations, photography and typography. They also create logo and visual identies for brands, and often think of the funny details in commericals that make people laugh.
If this sounds like a career you'd love, we'd love to talk.
Our Network
We’re a 100% online school.
That means your portfolio will be crafted with a global perspective, and you’ll build a world-wide network of connections who can help you get a job upon graduation.
Check out our full list of instructors to see who you’ll be learning from.
Here are just a few of the agencies you’ll find art direction professionals in the book180 network:
Edelman New York
Deutsch Los Angeles
Disney Orlando
Havas Chicago
Ogilvy Chicago
EP&Co NY
Golin Chicago
The Escape Pod Chicago
Zeno Group Chicago
Weber Shandwick Chicago
Check out our full list of grads to see how far our alumni network reaches.
Our Curriculum
You’ll learn to build your portfolio in exactly 6 months.
Our comprehensive curriculum is designed to help you build a complete portfolio in less than half the time of other schools. All of our art direction classes are hosted in the evening, on Zoom, and you’ll take a combination of solo skills classes and team concepting classes.
Classes are run by the industry’s top creatives.
All students have the chance to be fully prepared to get hired after graduation. book180 art directors will work with copywriting partners to develop campaigns that will be featured in your final portfolio.
Adobe Creative Cloud
A deep dive into the Adobe creative suite programs, with a focus in photoshop, indesign, and illustrator.
Typography
Get a strong foundation in type techniques, design, and hierarchy.
Insights & Culture
Get a foundation in strategy, including briefs, identifying new trends, and making sure your big ideas come from a strong audience insight.
Design Fundamentals
Learn about the high-level design concepts of color, layout and hierarchy and how to design with a brand campaign or concept in mind.
The Pitch | Agency Partnership
Compete against other students on a real-agency brief. Some agencies we've partnered with include: Highdive Chicago, Edelman LA and DDB Chicago.
Web3 and AI
An overview of Crypto, Gaming, and how to produce your work via Midjourney.
Campaigns Class
Art directors and copywriters work in teams to solve creative briefs with 360 campaigns.
Electives
Electives help our students personalize your portfolio even more. We offer new and different electives every semester, but options for art directors might include classes like Logo Design, Packaging or App Creation.
360 Period
After 20 weeks of classes, your tuition also includes our 2-week finishing period we call The 360 Period. During this time, you'll polish the best pieces for your portfolio, solidify your personal brand, and prepare for interviews. You'll also be paired with an industry mentor to help bridge the gap between school and agency life. Every semester ends with a Portfolio Launch Party, where we coordinate interviews for you with hiring managers around the country, and email your portfolio to thousands of our industry connections around the world.
Workshops
Not sure if the full 180-day program is for you? Fast-track your job search with our 5-week online advertising workshops designed to enhance your skills and portfolio. We also host free online seminars packed with valuable insights. Explore all our upcoming events here:
Contact Us
If you think you might be interested in a creative career in art direction, we’d love to chat. We’d love to help you transition from college to your dream job, or support you in your journey in looking for a new career path.
We’re happy to answer any questions you might have, email you a recording of a class, or introduce you to some of our grads. Reach out anytime to hello@book180.com.
