Mastermind of Design
What Does a Creative Director Do?
Meet the Creative Director – the evil genius pulling the strings behind the scenes. Enter their lair and find them stooped in their swivel chair stroking their paper stock samples with a maniacal gleam in their eyes. Duck away from the death-stare they give you as you make yourself known and interrupt them in the middle of the dastardly new idea they were just having. Perhaps you should have put it in an email. But exactly what does a Creative Director do?
The Master Plan: It’s All by Design
One laser-eye focussed on the detail, the other on total world domination. The Creative Director’s job is about more than overseeing the prettification of brand touchpoints, from the homepage banner to the delivery note. A CD must wield their power with a considered steadiness, at times exercising restraint. It is up to them to ensure every pixel and extravagant flourish contributes to the overall plan – the marketing strategy.
Creative Directors are visionaries and each move they make is calculated. Each expertly crafted manoeuvre serves to propel forward the brand’s goals of marketplace supremacy.
Stylish Sentinels: Keeping Track of the Competition
The world of branding is a cutthroat one and the CD knows this. As well as scouring the landscape, decoding trends and decrypting market research, they keep their all-seeing (sometimes envious) eyes on the schemes of their adversaries. The competition’s every marketing move is scrutinised in their quest to stay one step ahead of the game.
In order to divide and conquer, the Creative Director seeks to differentiate from their peers. It is imperative that they understand what they are up against.
Design Manifesto: Maintaining the Brand Guidelines
In order to garner the support of their minions, sorry, team members, the Creative Director must, you guessed it provide direction. The brand guidelines outline the agenda and decrees of the brand identity. They serve to maintain unwavering loyalty and stave off internal rebellions. Through proper direction, team members become on-the-ground guardians of the brand.
From forbidden font pairings to hexing HEX codes, brand guidelines are there to keep order in the sometimes chaotic world of creative design. Read also my blog on the importance of define a Brand Tone of Voice here.
Slicing & Dicing: Editing and Refining Creative Ideas
Armed with a red pen and a diplomatic demeanour, the Creative Director looks upon the raw brilliance of the creative team with a critical eye. With an iron fist, they trim the fat and weed out the imperfections. As team members look on in horror through parted fingers, from the rubble emerges the masterpiece.
Experts in collaboration and critique, the CD shuns ego in favour of excellence and lays waste to anything that falls short of perfection.
Revealing their Motive: Pitching Ideas to Stakeholders
Finally we reach the climax; the pièce de résistance, when the Creative Director reveals their nefarious plot. The Pitch. Stepping up before the relevant stakeholders (no you cannot join virtually), they captivate onlookers with visual aids and disarming charisma as they reveal their villainous motives.
The CD’s ability to pitch the creative team’s ideas with conviction (and some razzle dazzle) is the strongest tool in his arsenal.