What do production artists do all day?
I can tell you in short terms the answer to this question. We produce things.
Production artists have a unique role in the marketing department. Most often, this position is defined as graphic design by HR. The job description might say 80% production and 20% design. What they are trying to say is the role is heavily in production. For a lot of designers, this is a negative reality. They grapple with the idea that they won’t be designing on every project they work on. Design is often the glamorous role. However, for me I slid comfortably back into the role of production because it was less creatively demanding.
What do production artists do all day?
I was inspired by the series “What do artists do all day,” and decided to write my own article about production art. I have experience so much confusion over what that title means. Marketing departments for large companies rely on production artists to process requests for graphics. We are a kind of liaison between departments and this is a very broad definition.
On any given day, I could process over 20 different requests. One might be for a logo to be resized, or a gallery image to be created. Another request might be to update number values on a large document and produce the document, then style it in adobe acrobat so it has interactive fields. Often I create PDFs that are beautifully designed, and then change the font families and sizes on the PDF in Adobe Acrobat. It sounds simple but I also test the PDF to make sure it functions. It can also involve code inserted in the PDF for advanced functions. Production is a catch all for the design field. IT really includes technical and non technical design. If the designer isn’t present, then the production artist does the work.
Do you want to do production?
This is a very important question as many people go to design school every year hoping for a creative job. When I went to design school at the Art Institute of Orange County, I had no idea that I would end up doing production work. The word production was never mentioned. In fact, most of the designers hired at the companies I worked for had never heard of the term. It was not until a previous marketing manager mentioned the position and how most companies need a production manager that I even knew it was defined. I originally believed this was just a reality of the design industry, when in fact it is its own organism.
You have to decide for yourself if you want to churn out projects at a fast pace, or work on conceptual design. Both take a lot of time and energy, but one will definitely be more fulfilling to you. I discovered working as a production artist that I could help the company by understanding how to make sure designers work was usable. This sounds bad, but you would be surprised how many times companies hired someone who used different software, had different ideas of what could be used on a website, or didn’t provide files that actually worked for projects. It’s as simple as basic design standards. The production artist can be the loaded bag of tricks. When a designer fails, an art director does not produce, or a department is short staffed, the production artist can be the magician and come in to save the day.
I’ve seen art directors laugh at the title “production” because most people think of video or that you should be called a graphic designer. I have also seen art directors not produce files that were the correct format or size. I think the point is to continue to learn about your industry and figure out your niche. The most important thing would be to understand what you love doing, and what you don’t. Figure it out now so you can choose the right job description. This leads me to a final topic — your career path. Always keep in mind the end goal line. I found this excellent resource for mapping out your career path on Zippia.com. I was invited to share this resource, and discovered it was a great source of information! See below diagram that shows the different options for designers pursuing a graphic design degree, regardless if they are freelance or staff.
For more articles or to learn some production skills, check out my Skillshare class and the following topics: