Art Directors

Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (1)

Lower estimated automation risk

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7.6 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Applies creative direction, story goals, production constraints, talent coordination, approvals, and team leadership.

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Why it fits

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Why it fits

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Interior Designers
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Why it fits

Uses color, materials, spatial mood, client needs, presentation boards, vendor coordination, and design review.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
6.9/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

22% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Thinking creatively

Very important
Why this matters
Coming up with original ideas and designs—creating new concepts, products, systems, or artistic work. This kind of open-ended invention and taste-based judgment is harder to automate end-to-end than routine, rule-based tasks.
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Decision-making and problem solving

Very important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Persuasion

Quite important
Why this matters
Influencing people to change their minds or behavior through conversation, trust, and negotiation.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Show 5 more strengths

Instructing

Quite important
Why this matters
Teaching or coaching others—explaining steps, giving feedback, and adapting to different learners so they can do the work safely and correctly.
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Communicating with people outside the organization

Quite important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Operations analysis

Quite important
Why this matters
Figure out what people need and what a product must do, then translate those requirements into a workable design.
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What users think

Based on 215 votes

32% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 22% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Art Directors will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very high paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Art Directors was $111,040 ($53 per hour).

The median annual wage for Art Directors was 124.3% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Art Directors' job openings is expected to rise 4.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Moderate range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 50,370 people employed as 'Art Directors' within the United States.

This represents around < 0.001% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 3 thousand people are employed as 'Art Directors'.

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What people are saying (6)

Leave a comment
MMS
11 Jul 2021 14:24
I guess AI cannot tell designers what to do. So art directors rule...
Christiane Belanger (Low)
19 May 2025 15:25
It requires very rare human skills. Humans are at the forefront here, and no robot can truly perform the entire job of management. Some mechanical tasks might be possible, but passing on an art requires the subtlety of understanding something almost intangible, like energy, for example. The arts will always remain this way, and few people will be interested in managing them because the qualities or skills needed are countless. Knowledge must be passed on through acquired experience. This is what will make it splendid and beautiful.
Benjamin Fisher (No chance)
27 Apr 2024 02:25
Not a chance, buster, nuh uh! No gosh darn coolant-dripping line of code gone deprive the people of them finest of artsies and fartsies, rabbla rabble!!!!!!!
Alejandra Vargas (Highly likely)
29 Jul 2019 23:26
Khan Academy and other websites can offer students information of art pieces.
peek uhhhh choo
04 Feb 2025 14:51
not what an art director does
Robert forbs (Highly likely)
05 Mar 2024 10:03
All Art directors scan the internet for inspiration to create new idea. Ai could do that in seconds and churn out many iterations in a couple of minutes
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Job description

Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film. Direct workers engaged in artwork or layout design.

O*NET-SOC code: 27-1011.00