Modern Art Direction

Hey Reader Almost nobody I know grew up wanting to be an art director. I've now taught architects. Engineers. Marketing professionals. Graphic designers, video creators, motion designers. And the pattern is basically always the same. We all fell into this job. Very few of us had a clear path or found it early. baby jason and friends make a student commercial I was a video maker/"content creator" through my entire undergrad ad program. Right up until the last three months before I graduated. I...

ISSUE 009 Has everyone seen the Odyssey now except me?? I got my ticket for next week in IMAX 70mm...at 8am on Monday morning!! haha crazy i know but I've got 2 kids now, and the newborn can't be babysat yet (so my wife is also going by herself on a different day). So today, while I wait to finally watch the movie, our new M AD contributor, Ken Westrick, is going to dive into some behind the scenes. Its fascinating seeing the level of craft poured into the film. But, before you enjoy Ken's...

ISSUE 007 Its not every year the World Cup lines up perfectly with the NBA Finals and the Knicks win for the first time in 53 years... Literally that never happens! but it happened! And we were blessed by the art direction gods. Here's some of the best stuff I saw... The Most Feral Art Direction in Sports Right Now This Nike x Patta collection for Netherlands is captivating! Love the cultural allusions and symbolism mixed with the dynamic editing. Clean studio cycs mixed with maximalist sets....

ISSUE 005 The industry is hectic, but the craft remains steady yall. This week we’re looking at how brand marks can act as a storytelling lens, why a rare phenomenon is the perfect metaphor for the Olympics, and why the most captivating ads are actually the ones that leave the mistakes in. But first, let's touch on something a bit difficult for me to grapple with... The Artist vs. The Individual Ye’s recent sold-out return to SoFi Stadium was a visual masterclass. The stage design featured a...

Hey team! One of the most common questions I get is "how do I learn art direction?" It's a tough one. Because unlike learning a software or a specific skill, art direction is more like learning a language. Actually, it's like learning several languages at once. And although I personally attended a fairly affordable undergrad program that taught me how to think like an art director, I didn’t actually take any design classes. I had to learn the craft entirely on my own. So today, I want to...