How to become a Creative Director
The (path to this) often elusive role of creative director can be vague at best and an outright mystery at worst. Even after holding this title myself for years now, it's sometimes tricky to explain what the role exactly entails and how to get to it in the first place. Unlike a lot of jobs, there isn’t a fixed skillset or list of prerequisites for this role on top of there being wildly different expectations per organisation.
But worry not, young padawan. Below I’ll break down the most common threads and steps to take if you’d like to grow into this role. And yes, I’ll take the current AI developments into account as well.
1. Stop focusing solely on design
A lot of designers, especially younger ones, tend to think that the path to becoming a creative director is a linear path upwards, similar to how seniority grows within corporate roles with the passing of time. If you keep grinding away at learning all design software there is or try becoming the best designer the world has ever seen in some niche, you’ll surely get promoted to Creative Director… right? I’d reckon that’s not necessarily the case. But even if so, you might realise it might not be something you’d like after all or you might not even necessarily be a good fit for the role.
The best creative directors I’ve seen aren’t necessarily the best at the craft aspect of design. It definitely helps if they have experience with hands-on design in some capacity, but a creative director doesn’t have to be some design prodigy or virtuoso. That aspect is usually more present with dedicated art directors that stay close to the craft aspect.
I often compare the creative director role to being a soccer trainer; they might have been decent players themselves before, but the best trainers take a different role that doesn’t require being a veteran in craft. Instead there’s a bigger focus on (long & short term) strategy, team management, clear communication, navigating ambiguity, dealing with various stakeholders & personalities, business-savviness and having a vision.
2. Differences in skillset
As the ‘Director’ part implies, you’ll need to be able to take a distance from the design itself and try to think of both the perspective of solving both user & business problems, incl. the pathway to those solutions in a financially sustainable way while keeping teams happy. If anything, you’re the one juggling the different aspects of projects and keeping a clear vision. You’ll be the one that’s steering the ship and that will need to give final approvals while being challenged with a myriad of different opinions, agendas, personalities and timelines. You’ll be faced with hands-on teams, internal & external stakeholders and clients at the same time. It’s a bit like playing chess, but the chess pieces also have ideas, thoughts and a voice of their own.
3. Designers & creative directors and the rise of AI
Whilst the use of AI is quite divisive, and ethically debatable , it’s worth addressing what influence it will have on said professions regardless. During the initial rise of AI tools like Midjourney, Runway, etc. I saw a lot of discussion around how the majority of designers would have to pivot towards being a (creative) director given how easy AI-tools would make the otherwise predominantly skill-driven design field. The arguments often being along the lines of:
“If anyone can generate a great looking design, video or mockup with just a prompt and the press of a button, designers would have to pivot towards orchestrating the vision & final outcome. If not, they’ll provide too little value and they’ll become obsolete over time”
It might be true that anyone can render a passable image, text or image sooner or later, but I think that misses the point of what it means to be a designer in the first place. Innovation, collaboration, finding new solutions & perspectives and grounding those in end user’ wants and needs is still very much a human activity. (See also: How designers can beat AI at design).
For any designer, I’d reckon all the emerging tools might seem daunting. But they provide great ways to automate certain (repetitive) tasks, brainstorm quicker and give you more time & headspace to think about what you actually want to create. Any AI will poop out general amalgamations of what you request from it, but its human creativity that will transform generic outputs into something that is actually cohesive, has a concept behind it and aligns with a vision. Regardless of how we spin it, AI in essence isn’t creative on its own. As more people & organisations start using these tools, it’s creating a floodgate of mindlessly generated content for quick wins. It’ll be a designer’s job to create the difference and come up with solutions that resonate more with specific target audiences compared to the JPGs that your office Karen is able crank out in Midjourney.
For creative directors, the usage of AI is a bit different. For those, I see it more as empowered tools for gathering insights, data, trends & strategies, whilst empowering and steering teams into what direction to take creatively. This would include staying up to date on how the landscape is evolving, both creatively & technologically, and enabling teams to adapt & adopt to changes. This isn’t really new, but given the current fast-paced developments, it’s more important than ever. It’s your job to enable and foster a safe space for experimentation, collaboration and growing people without overwhelming them. This doesn’t only include creative teams; stakeholders, managers, developers etc. within a organisation need to be aligned on this. You’re the advocate for the value of (good) design, that’s always a (human) team effort.
4. Different types of Creative Directors
Did you know Pharrell Williams is the creative director of Louis Vuitton, Kate Moss took the same title for Coke Light and Will I Am is holding the same role for Intel? There’s a whole slew of well-known figures that became creative directors these past years. They didn’t necessarily have notable experience in (design) strategy or a meaningful affiliation with the world of business in the capacity that an industry veteran with a ton of business experience would have. Although these cases are somewhat tokenistic, it shows how wide the definition is of what a creative director embodies across the industry.
The similarity with ‘traditional’ creative directors is that they function as leaders who propose a vision & direction, albeit usually without taking part in execution or hands-on guidance of teams in this case.
In comparison, Angus Hyland is a highly celebrated ’traditional’ creative director at Pentagram, arguably world’s most famous design firm. While his name probably won’t ring a bell among the average person, he’s well-known by designers, responsible for countless well-known visual identities, wrote a slew of books on design and leads teams in various organisations. As a design leader he provides vision & direction to stakeholders. But he also works directly with creative teams, with his abundance of knowledge on what works and what doesn’t in both design & strategy, given his track record with design as a craft.
These are just two examples, but you can imagine that the role takes different shapes within gaming, design, filmmaking, branding, fashion, etc. The primary connecting factor between them all being the ability to form a long-term vision and getting others on-board with it. Whether you want to be hands on in craft as well, be more of a high-level strategic decision maker or any other form is dependent on what you’d personally prefer, where your skills lie most and what the role/organisational team requires.
Steps you can follow right now
While there might be different paths towards this role, here’s some steps you can take to move in the right direction:
- Identify what kind of creative director you’d ideally want to be.
It helps a lot with developing a plan with actionable steps towards achieving your goal. Once you have a clear idea, question whether your current organisation can provide such a role based on its structure and type of people, either now or in the future. If not, make sure there’s learning opportunities that you can leverage to grow into your desired direction. You don’t have to leave an organisation immediately if this is the case, but make sure you don’t stick around in a company (too long) that might stagnate your growth. - Check the role requirements at your current organisation (and others) and set up a personal development plan towards it.
This is assuming you are currently working for any kind of organisation as an employee in a different role. Not only will asking about these requirements give you insight in what’s actually expected for the role, it can kickstart a conversation with the people in charge to co-create a actionable personal development plan to work towards achieving it. Make sure you create the objectives as smart goals, so you have a tangible plan that can be measured. Do keep in mind, the nature of the role and requirements for this role may vary per organisation/industry so make sure that what you plan to learn isn’t overly niche’d down to the current organisation in case you’d ever want to transition elsewhere. - Face your current weaknesses and work on them pro-actively.
It’s rather easy to avoid things we’re not comfortable or inexperienced with. However, most growth comes from pushing past the comfort zone as long as you do it gradually. Sometimes an organisation might not be able/willing to facilitate the training you’d like to follow to grow in certain aspects, and paying for certain courses yourself can be pricey. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of taking up side-projects, volunteering or even picking up certain hobbies with clear goals in mind of what I want to work on that contribute either directly or indirectly.
Want to get better at public speaking? Reach out to event organisers to see if you can give a talk at a small event or try a few theater lessons to grow comfortable with talking to crowds/teams. Want to get better at business strategy + stakeholder/client management? Act like a freelancer and try to strategise & sell any small offering that you could provide to a small business owner in your area. While reading books or watching videos also goes a long way, don’t underestimate the value of actual practise. Way too many get stuck in the idea of reading tons of books and following a million courses, but actually applying knowledge is rather different than just understanding the theory. You can’t suddenly play guitar either just by reading a bunch of books on music theory e.g. - Get a mentor / talk to people with industry experience.
Don’t worry, this is not some plug to sell you mentorship or a course. Instead, places like ADPlist have great mentors that are willing to help you for free. Alternatively, reach out to (local) experienced folks through LinkedIn or mail to see if you could have a coffee or borrow 30 minutes of their time on call. Do note that they might be busy or less receptive as they might get a lot of these requests. If you do reach out, make sure to include a personal touch instead of some generic ‘Hey, I want help, you got time?’ message. State why you’re reaching out to them specifically, what you’d want to learn from them, and how much time you’d need. If you can offer them anything in return, that’s always appreciated, whether it's offering them coffee or donating a few bucks to a charity of their choosing e.g. A small gesture goes a long way sometimes. (Of course I‘m always happy to help answer questions as well, feel free to reach out to me at hello@mathijssterrenburg.com). - Document your processes & business achievements.
The most important qualities to show aren’t necessarily the tangible work produced but more about the (business) results achieved and the journey towards it. As a CD you’re always problem solving towards greater goals, so document what challenges, hurdles & complications you’ve faced and how you addressed them. This can be both successfully or unsuccessfully, be honest if certain things went wrong as long as you can showcase how you pivoted to correct course or can explain what you’d do differently in the future to prevent it from happening. Having adaptability, flexibility and (self)reflection in the heat of the moment is a crucial skill in itself for any leader, don’t underestimate it’s importance.
In terms of results, focus on highlighting drivers that actually reflect on a business’ performance. Did a marketing campaign? Showcase the Return On Investment (ROI) percentage, engagement metrics, how you steered the vision etc. bundled with the final outcomes. - Do side-projects & activities that inspire you.
Given the role requires you to have a broad understanding and feeling for the creative field, keep yourself challenged and inspired in multiple ways. This doesn’t have to be limited to the default ‘creative’ things like visiting museums, design events, etc. (although those can be great options). Inspiration can come from all kinds of places and unexpected ways if you allow it. There’s plenty of times that I got inspired by going to a concert, take up a course in something unrelated, wandering around with a simple camera to see areas I haven’t seen before, talking to people with vastly different interests or life views, reading books, etc. A lot of creativity and unique possibilities can be found in combining the things you pick up that way.
This can also be explored more in-depth by doing personal side-projects. These don’t need to be massive undertakings, its more like a sketchbook approach where its more about exploring ideas instead of trying to get to a finalised ‘product’. Having a backlog like this, especially if its projects around topics that you enjoy exploring in the first place, can be valuable for actual projects in the long run while also allowing you to have fun with creating. Doing solely creative work for the sake of deliverables more often than not leads to (creative) burn-out, especially in fast paced organisations where it can feel like you need to rapid-fire creativity-on-demand.
Quite the read, but you’ve made it all the way down here, well done!
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