Production Art

Production art, what?…

I have worked as a production artist now for a few years. Previously I worked as a graphic artist for various institutions, startups, a college, and an ad agency. I found the best jobs called it “production art” and defined it correctly. Yes, I can design…but I prefer to produce.

What is the difference really? When I worked as a graphic designer, the focus of my work was on creating concepts (3-5) for social media, banner concepts for the website, flyer campaigns designs, event programs, 1-sheet designs, and anything conceptual. I collaborated with the marketing director on producing the directors ideas. When I transitioned to production, the focus of my work became technology and quality. I learned to apply what I learned in the English master’s program at Cal State Fullerton to my graphic design background. I became the last line of defense in quality control over all documentation. Now as a production manager my work entails making sure there are no grammar errors, typos, missing information, and all of the graphics are linked on the documents the companies I work for produce. I create logos and other graphics to size. I proof tradeshow booth graphics for typos and to make sure the designers create these graphics in high resolution and to the correct size. I clean up engineering line drawings that don’t look clean when they are converted to illustrator files. I delete invisible artifacts from these files and correct the line weight in images. I produce large catalogs and brochures and update all of our product installation guides and spec sheets. I make sure everything is on brand and agrees with marketing’s core values. I coordinate with the web developer in producing changes on the website and adjustments to graphics that are unexpected. I assist with the on boarding of designers in making sure they know what different departments need. In essence, I am quality control and I enjoy every minute of it. At heart I love literature and I’m inspired by art history. During the daytime I put on my production hat and work managing production. I keep the workflow moving forward. I love it because I am able to do my own creative projects at home, and do the real nitty gritty work at work.

Because this work is technical and not design, I don’t have a lot of samples in my portfolio. You can view what a spec sheet looks like here, or visit my portfolio to see some of my design work.

If you have a question or you want to know more, check out my Skillshare classes or shoot me an email. I’d love to hear what you think about these topics.