books about art direction?

February 21, 2006 7:53 PM

Good books (textbooks?) about art direction?

I'm interested in learning what there is to know about art direction: where art directors typically find resources, how they work with artists, art direction process models, what else art directors need to know. Can someone recommend a really good textbook (or other resource) on all this?

I did do a Google search, and a search on Amazon.com, found a couple of articles (nothing answering my questions), but I'd really like an authoritative and thorough source. Thanks in advance.

Oh, and I'm not really interested in art direction for movies or films, which is what mostly comes up when I search.

posted by amtho to media & arts (2 comments total)

You aren't going to find a textbook on this, art direction isn't typically something you study up on and jump into as a career. Resource management, workflow, these are things you learn on the way up, by working on actual jobs under other experienced directors.

That said, what medium specifically are you working in? The methods change a lot per format.
posted by still at 8:55 PM on February 21, 2006

Thanks for asking -- I'm working in web development. I'm thinking that advertising, marketing, book design, magazine design could apply here.
posted by amtho at 5:10 AM on February 22, 2006