Design Director Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the job description of a design director, to help boost your understanding of the key duties, tasks, and responsibilities that they commonly perform.

What Does a Design Director Do?

A design director, also called design department manager, bridges the link between creative employees and management.

The design director job description entails overseeing strategic design projects in an organization, managing individuals and projects, as well as monitoring the profitability of jobs.

A variety of creative fields use design director. A good number of these organizations include graphic design and advert agencies, public relations, and interior design corporations, and marketing corporations.

Most design directors have a background in Fine Arts or graphic design. An associate’s program or a Bachelor of Fine Arts program will enable a designer to get entry-level work in a design field.

Design directors usually have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, in addition to significant working experience in a similar field.

Although a lot of organizations employ design directors, their core competency is consistent.

Design directors ought to be fluent with the most relevant design software systems.

The director also has to understand the skills of the creative employees and should be able to give recommendation if technological problems arise. This person should be both creative and organized.

Once a project is awarded, a design director works with the account director to see to a way to best allocate the budget and time so that the project is profitable.

The director is also responsible for choosing suitable designers for the work. Organizations most of the time have multiple design projects at a time. As a result, the design director should be capable of planning people’s time, and also be able to juggle multiple projects at a go.

His/her role also includes providing clear information to a group of individuals within the organization.

He/she should be able to synthesize feedback and relay it appropriately.

The design director’s work description also involves developing organizational strategic policies.

Once the management has arrived at a new policy, the director is needed to relay this to the design employees.

The director also works with design administrators and other employees to review client feedback and make suggestions on a way to best interpret the information to the design team.

In addition to having a strong understanding of work flow and design management, the director should also have a concrete understanding of the competitive nature of design jobs.

He/she obtains such understanding through studying on-line reviews and market research, or through surveys and marketing research.

With such information, the design director can review projects to make sure they are aligned with the market, and also appropriately differentiated.

A design director performs several duties; including managing creative employees, communicating info, and helping to make sure projects are profitable.

He/she is committed to continual learning about new design software and marketplace trends.

Design Director Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Design directors work in various industries and perform different functions. The job description example below shows a list of key duties, tasks, and responsibilities design directors usually perform on the job on a daily basis:

• Establish artistic strategy, budgets and schedules for key project design
• Mentor and supervise artistic team while effecting and introducing new and innovative strategies of artistic execution
• Motivate and influence artistic team to always attain for excellence in performance
• Develop and design ideas and execute artistic material as needed
• Initiate and develop overall interactive team design vision by applying group direction and goals
• Assign artistic leads and develop accounts and project team
• Select specific business section and supply tactical and strategic direction
• Direct and encourage group of designers
• Head and direct team providing key ideas, methods and brand positioning
• Initiate design ideas to all internal and external audiences
• Contribute strategically to complete design business component
• Provide influencing concepts to boost department productivity
• Manage design processes to make sure timely delivery projects
• Head and manage work intake and overall design project assignment process
• Direct, manage, and lead dedicated designers group across multiple disciplines and categories

Design Director Job Description for Resume

If you are searching for a new design director job and need to prepare a resume to submit to prospective employers, the sample job description presented above can be useful.

The professional experience section of the resume can be made by applying the duties and responsibilities of the design director stated in the above work description.

Design Director Requirements: Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success

The following are important skills and qualities design directors should possess to excel on the job; these are also qualities employers usually look for to consider applicants for the position:

• Creativity: Design directors should have the ability to build unique design solutions which will surprise and delight clients
• Confidence: He/she should be able to manage and lead other creative staffs
• Vision: Possess the skills to clearly articulate concepts to clients, account and other creative team members
• Technical Craftsmanship: He/she should be a very good design wiz
• Organization: Possess the ability to meet overlapping deadlines in a fast-paced working environment without substituting quality or accuracy
• Collaboration: Possess the skills to perceive how his/her role will fit into the strategic objectives of the client and agency, and communicate well at all times with colleagues
• Enthusiast: He/she must be enthusiastic about designing and presenting superb presentations
• Passion: He/she must be passionate about design, color concepts, typography, hierarchy and flow
• Ability: The design director must have the ability to resolve complex communication issues
• Professionalism: He/she must display professionalism and be able to relate well with all levels of agency
• Education: He/she should have a Bachelors degree in Graphic Design or in related fields