Jake Przespo

The recent blog post from Smashing Magazine seemed to have stirred up the web community a bit. Some say they like the article and some say that Smashing Magazine missed the connection. It has got me thinking about what art direction is and how we use it on the web.

Art Direction

Back in 2004, A List Apart wrote an article on this subject and it is still a well-written and relevant post. Stephen Hay, the author of the article, explains that there is a difference between design and art direction.

Don’t ‘just’ design. It’s often just plain boring when compared to a well-developed concept.

To me, art direction is about sending a message. It is more than just design, but the concept as a whole. The main goal is to get the message of the product or service across to your audience while being clear yet powerful. Design should be the piece that supports the direction of the idea.

Let’s take the Apple ads for example. Apple wants us to know that the iPhone is powerful, fast, and intuitive. That is the message. The end goal of the commercial is to make us as viewers believe that. To show us that the phone is powerful, they advertise the endless possibilities of the App Store: “There’s an app for that.” As the commercial rolls on, we are shown how fast the phone loads data and applications all while being a few taps and swipes away. They show their audience exactly how they can use their product, even the view in which its users will see it. To me, that is art direction. Apple took a product, applied a message to it, and used design and dialogue to convey it. Without that direction, we wouldn’t know why we need the iPhone so badly.

In the web

Art Direction on the web is about the content or the message. It is the sole reason for having an online identity. Content can be anything from thoughts and pictures to products and services. Finding the most clear and powerful way to present this content is the goal.

Jason Santa Maria is the first person that comes to mind that is doing this with his blog. All of his blog posts are supported with different designs that support the direction of the content. Without the content, each design wouldn’t make much sense. Jason takes an idea and comes up with the best way to convey that idea on the web. I do not know Jason personally, but that is what I assume from his work.

So what do I know about art?

Not much. Though I would love to attend art school, I do not have any formal education in the field. I have a degree in Web Development and am self-taught beyond that point. I try to follow the people that I think are doing it right and learn as much as I can from them. I use that information and try to put my own twist on it.

I’m glad I’m still early on in my career:

The hardest part about art direction is arguably the development of a sound and creative concept. This literally takes years of practice in most cases. Finding an idea-generation technique that fits your own personality can take just as long.

— Both quotes are from Stephen Hay in the article “Art Direction on the Web” on A List Apart.