art-direction

# Art Direction

Direct creative work that extends the brand into specific deliverables. Photography, illustration, video, motion, campaigns, environmental design.

This skill assumes brand identity is approved (`brand-identity` complete). Art direction is about applying and extending it, not defining it.

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## When to use

- Briefing photographers, illustrators, videographers
- Developing campaign creative concepts
- Directing in-house creative teams
- Writing creative direction documents for vendors
- Evaluating creative deliverables for brand fit
- Adapting brand visual identity to a new format or context

## When NOT to use

- Setting project-wide aesthetic direction across multiple downstream skills (use `creative-direction` instead). This skill briefs specific creative deliverables; `creative-direction` produces the structured aesthetic brief that this skill consumes.
- Defining brand visual identity from scratch (use `brand-identity`)
- Day-to-day component design (use `design-standards`)
- Writing copy for creative work (use `content-and-copy` or `landing-page-copy`)
- Building a design system (use `design-system`)

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## Required inputs

- The deliverable (photo shoot, illustration set, video, campaign)
- The brand identity (visual system, voice, imagery direction)
- The audience for this specific work
- The goal (brand awareness, conversion, education, emotional connection)
- Budget and timeline
- Distribution context (where it will be seen)

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## The framework: 5 layers

A creative brief covers five layers. Each must be clear before the brief leaves your hands.

### 1. The story

What this creative work is fundamentally about.

- **The premise.** The core idea in one sentence.
- **The emotional through-line.** What the audience feels.
- **The role of the brand.** How the brand shows up in the story.
- **The takeaway.** What the audience walks away with.

A weak premise produces work that's pretty but says nothing. Spend time here.

### 2. The look

The visual treatment.

**For photography:**
- Subject and composition (close-up, environmental, candid, posed)
- Lighting (natural, studio, dramatic, soft)
- Color palette (true color, treated, monochrome)
- Locations (specific or general direction)
- Wardrobe and props
- Mood references (3 to 5 reference images)

**For illustration:**
- Style (flat, dimensional, hand-drawn, geometric, abstract)
- Color use (full palette, restricted, brand-only)
- Line treatment
- Composition style
- Detail level
- Reference artists or works (with explicit "we want like X but NOT like Y")

**For video / motion:**
- Pacing (slow, medium, fast cuts)
- Camera movement (static, handheld, sweeping)
- Color grading
- Transitions and effects
- Audio direction (music, voiceover, ambient)
- Reference work (3 to 5 examples)

### 3. The execution

Production-level direction.

**Specifications:**
- Deliverable formats and sizes (web hero, social square, print full-page)
- Required shots or frames
- Optional shots if budget allows
- Wardrobe and prop list (for live action)
- Color and asset specs (RGB, CMYK, hex codes for matching)

**Constraints:**
- Things to avoid (specific cliches, forbidden treatments, regulatory)
- Brand-system requirements (logo placement, color use, type rules)

### 4. The variants

How this creative scales across distribution.

Most creative needs to live in multiple places. Plan the variants up front.

**Common variant set for a campaign:**
- Hero web image (16:9 or wider)
- Mobile web hero (4:5 or 1:1)
- Social square (1:1)
- Social vertical (9:16)
- Email banner (3:1 typical)
- Display ad sizes (300x250, 728x90, etc.)
- Print sizes if applicable

For each variant, note: how the composition adapts, what gets cropped or repositioned, what assets are required.

### 5. The standards

The quality bar.

**Technical:**
- Resolution and format requirements
- Color profile
- File naming conventions
- Delivery format (raw + edited, layered files, exported variants)

**Creative:**
- What "approved" looks like (specific examples of acceptable work)
- What "not approved" looks like (specific examples to avoid)
- Number of revision rounds budgeted

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## Workflow

### For briefing external creative

1. **Confirm the inputs.** Brand identity locked. Audience and goal clear. Budget and timeline known.
2. **Develop the concept.** Premise, emotional through-line, takeaway.
3. **Build the look.** Mood references. Specific direction on style elements.
4. **Write the spec.** Production-level direction. Variants. Constraints.
5. **Brief the vendor.** In writing. Walk through it live. Allow questions.
6. **Review milestones.** Treatment review, halfway review, final review. Don't skip the early reviews; corrections compound.
7. **Approve and document.** What was produced, what's licensed for what use.

### For directing in-house creative

1. **Same brief, lighter format.** In-house direction can be more iterative. Still document the brief.
2. **Co-create.** In-house teams know the brand. Use their judgment. Don't over-direct.
3. **Establish review rhythm.** Daily check-ins for fast work, weekly for longer projects.

### For evaluating existing creative

1. **Score against the brief.** Did the work hit the brief? Where did it deviate?
2. **Score against the brand.** Does this look like the brand? Could this be confused with a competitor?
3. **Score against the goal.** Will this drive the intended outcome?
4. **Identify fixes.** What can be improved? What's a deal-breaker vs. acceptable?

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## Failure patterns

- **"Modern, clean, minimal" briefs.** Means nothing. Force specificity. Use specific reference brands, named artists, or visual examples.
- **No "what to avoid" direction.** Vendors interpret broadly. Tell them what's out of bounds explicitly.
- **Reference imagery that's actually competitor work.** You'll get something that looks like the competitor. Never use direct competitors as references.
- **Skipping early reviews.** Every revisi