Art Directors
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.
53,070 people do this job in the US. $114,850 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 79%
- 16%
- 4%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 27%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create custom illustrations or other graphic elements.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 18% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | 17%Half by Apr 2027 | |
| Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | 28%Half by Feb 2027 | |
| Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.3 work days | 32%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 46%Half by Oct 2026 | |
| Conceptualize and help design interfaces for multimedia games, products, and devices.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 1 work day1.7 h to 3.1 work days | 5%Half by Jan 2028 | |
| Hire, train, and direct staff members who develop design concepts into art layouts or who prepare layouts for printing.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 9% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Attend photo shoots and printing sessions to ensure that the products needed are obtained.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.7 work days | Stays with people | |
| Mark up, paste, and complete layouts and write typography instructions to prepare materials for typesetting or printing.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 72%Half by now | |
| Research current trends and new technology, such as printing production techniques, computer software, and design trends.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | 90%Half by now | |
| Present final layouts to clients for approval.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare detailed storyboards showing sequence and timing of story development for television production.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 6.7 h2.5 h to 2.5 work days | 9%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).