PLANNING AND SCOUTING

It takes both.

Everyone knows what the photographers and writers do for a publication. Some understand what the editors do. But talk about art directors, and it gets hazy. 

In a nutshell, art directors take all of those words and bring them to life visually through a lot of planning. They often touch every page in the book, from determining what is needed to accompany the articles, planning photo shoots and how the pages come together, to assigning who photographs or illustrates the images on each page, working with printers and more.

Sort of like baking. Once the ingredients are gathered (articles, photos, illos, ads, special sections, etc.), the art director plans and combines the publication in a specific order, builds the pages, works with the team until it is ready, and then sends it off to the printer to be printed and distributed. (Roles vary at each publication, but this gives an idea of how it works here.)

Here are a few location scouts and a glimpse behind the makings of an illustration for the magazine as an example. For illustrations, several options are usually provided by the artist, and then we narrow it down to one, fine tune and finally combine it with editorial content. 

For more complex photo shoots such as fashion, homes, and gift guides, I begin with a theme, then brainstorm locations and ideas. Once the idea and location is decided, colors and schemes that pair well on each page are mocked up. I always keep in mind how two images will work together when a feature is photographed.