If you’re not in advertising, you may have heard a person refer to himself as an ‘art director’, and not be uncertain what exactly that means. Someone who directs art? We asked J.O.’s own Courtney Hayashi Foster how she might define the magic she performs daily.

“I’m sure a lot of people don’t really understand how it works,” Courtney admitted. “I don’t even think my family fully understands what goes on to create something like a campaign or a branding platform. They know I use a computer to conjure up pretty things, but that’s about it!”

According to Courtney, the first step is research: discovering exactly what it is the client is looking for in regard to style, color, attitude/perspective, and how they wish to portray their company or event. “It usually helps to have the client pick pieces of design they like and tell us why.”

After dissecting another person’s idea into something that makes sense, it’s time to start the artwork. “It’s a lot of tweaking, nudging, kerning, scaling and un-scaling, deleting, trial and error, CTRL+Z, happy accidents, creative block and moments of brilliance,” says Courtney, “It can be complete creative chaos or it can be as easy as pie. You just never know.”

A talented art director must possess a great deal of skill and understanding of design principles, not to mention an open mind and a strong sense of adventure.

“Graphic design is the art of taking risks,” Courtney adds, “It’s trusting your instincts and being in-sync with your imagination.”

Is it time for your company to try a new ad campaign with original graphic art? Courtney or another J.O. art director will be glad to help.