Art Director Resume Examples & Writing Guide

You’ve got enough creative power to fuel entire teams. And you could probably make an ad that would persuade a killer whale to buy a smartphone.

But even if you can sell anything, selling yourself is often the hardest part. Just showing your portfolio to people won’t cut it. You also need a resume that shows the full range of your skills and the value you’ll bring to the new employer.

Fortunately, writing an art director resume can be quick and painless. Just follow our actionable step-by-step guide.

This guide will show you: 

• An art director resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write an art director resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on an art director resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for an art director to get any job you want.

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Targeting other creative jobs design, visual arts, or marketing? See one of our dedicated guides:

• Artist CV
• Graphic Designer Resume
• Marketing Resume
• Marketing Manager Resume
• Marketing Director Resume
• UX/UI Designer Resume
• Web Developer Resume
• Visual Merchandising Resume
• Video Producer Resume
• Production Coordinator Resume
• Cinematographer Resume
• Journalism Resume
• Illustrator Resume
• All Resume Examples

Art Director Resume Example

Now here’s how to write your art director resume in <style>:

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Art Director Resume

Your job is to make sure your client’s marketing message looks good—both on screen and on paper.

Consider your resume your most important design project so far.

Follow these formatting rules:

• Create a good resume header with your contact information.
• Divide your resume into sections with big, legible headings.
• Choose a good resume format: usually, the chronological template will be your best bet. It showcases the peak of your career.
• Use a good resume font. And by a “good font,” I mean, you have to get with the times (not new roman). You can’t help but judge other people’s choice of font, recruiters will judge yours.
• Remember that white space is your friend. It lets recruiters breathe.
• PDF of Word resume? In short: send a PDF resume unless the job ad explicitly asks for an art director resume in Word.

Pro Tip: In art and graphic design industries, a portfolio matters as much as a resume. Make sure you add links to your professional website with the portfolio of your works in the contact information section. Pressed for time to create one? Try a website builder, for instance, WIX.

2. Write an Art Director Resume Summary or Objective

A resume summary or a resume objective is also called a resume profile:

It’s a short, snappy paragraph at the top of your resume. Its purpose is to explain why you’re the perfect candidate for this job. Think of it as an elevator pitch for your application.

Use a resume summary if you have over 2 years of experience. Summarize your proudest achievements, show the potential employer how exactly you’ll help them achieve their goals.

Go for a resume objective if you’re looking for your first job as an art director. Outline what skills you’ve mastered so far and how well you’d fit in.

Pro Tip: Although this section comes at the top of an art director resume, write it last. First, compose the rest of your resume. Then, skim the cream.

3. Create the Perfect Art Director Job Description

The work experience section of an art director resume is the most crucial part.

Not only do you have to show that you’re a savvy design pro. You need to prove that you’re an inspired project leader able to lead cross-departmental teams.

Here’s how to nail your art director job descriptions:

• Start with your current or most recent job, follow it with the one before it, and so on.
• In each entry, list: your job title, the company name, dates worked, and up to 6 bullet points outlining your art director responsibilities and showcasing achievements.
• As you go back in time, limit the number of job description bullet points—include the most relevant achievements only.
• Start each bullet point with an action word: designed, developed, supervised, created, etc.
• Show off quantified, measurable achievements, not just duties and tasks.
• Target each resume to the job on offer. Focus on what’s most relevant to the position.

Pro Tip: Haven’t worked as an art director yet and lacking art director qualifications? Want to take your graphic design career to the next level? For a sound start, check out some art direction courses on Lynda or Udemy. These will make a great addition to a junior art director resume.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

4. Make Your Art Director Resume Education Section Shine

Is the education section the easiest one to write on a resume for design director positions? Perhaps. But you still need to follow some basic rules to get it right.

• Over 5 years of experience? Add only: your degree, major, minors (if applicable), college name, graduation year.
• Barely starting out in art direction? Include extra details such as academic achievements, extracurricular activities, relevant coursework, or favorite fields of study.

Pro Tip: Don’t have formal education to become an art director? Don’t worry, your experience is more important. But—you still need to include your highest degree of education on a resume. Some employers won’t hire you unless you have any Bachelor’s degree.

5. Highlight Your Art Director Skills

Just came to see a sample list of good skills to put on an art director resume? Look no further.

Key Art Director Skills

Hard Skills:

• Photoshop
• Indesign
• Illustrator
• HTML
• UX Design
• Typography
• Print Design
• Photography and Branding

Transferable and Soft Skills:

• Creativity and Creative Problem Solving
• Critical Thinking
• Leadership
• Teamwork Skills
• Taking Criticism
• Research
• Time Management

But don’t just list whatever art skills you think you have in a random order.

Instead, do this:

• Start with a spreadsheet that lists all of the job skills you have: include soft skills and hard skills, as well as purely technical skills.
• Read the job description carefully. Look for skills-related keywords.
• Check how many of these are there in your spreadsheet. Quite a few? Great. That’s your skills list.
• Don’t just put the names of your art direction skills in a separate list. Provide evidence for those skills in your resume summary and work experience section.

Pro Tip: What skills are best to put on an art director resume? Those employers want most! According to recent studies by LinkedIn and HubSpot, these creative skills are most in-demand now: UX Design, Video Production, Audio Production, Social Media Content Design.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Art Director Resume

All of the above sections? Those are must-haves.

But to make recruiters truly ADOBE you, supercharge your resume with adding extra sections. Consider:

• language skills
• projects
• certifications
• achievements and awards
• hobbies and interests
• volunteering.

7. Attach Cover Letter to Your Art Director Resume

Yes, cover letters are still a thing. Almost half of recruiters won’t review your resume if there’s no cover letter attached.

Write your art director cover letter following these strategies:

• Use a good, elegant cover letter format.
• Start your cover letter with a “hook.”
• Show how your experience will translate into their success.
• End your cover letter with an offer and a call to action.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to follow up on your job application. A quick email or phone call can be just the trick that gets you hired.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

So there you have it—

Everything you need to know about writing a pitch-perfect resume for art director positions.

Got more questions? Need further assistance? Drop me a line in the comments, I’ll straighten out all your queries!