Art direction traditionally means controlling the narrative of the media one's designing - whether it be a poster, a book, a magazine, an ad etc. It is essential to know how to master, design, develop the overall product, taking care of all the visuals elements and the team working on them (typography, imagery, photography, illustration, writing, editing). By doing so, the art director is shaping, defining and delivering a specific narrative, which the audience will receive and more or less "passively' engage or respond to. "What we've valued the most in the practice of art direction is this: the ability to control the myriad elements of design in such a way as to produce a sustained, cohesive and distinctive narrative experience". Art direction is a means of storytelling and shaping visual narrative experiences.
"However the digital art director deals not just in narrative, but also in behaviour". Behaviour is one of the fundamental principles shaping digital designs: how does a digital product respond to the actions, goals and needs of those who use it? Each digital product allows a variety of behaviours (different users engage with digital media in different ways, but also the same user might engage with the product in different ways at different times). Also depending on the software, device, browser or interface, a digital product may be rendered and displayed in different ways. All these factors may more or less negatively influence, change and modify the designer's original vision and idea of the product and its use.
This transforms audience of mass media consumers into users, since the designed product is not passively received, it is now put into use.
Because all of the above, digital users can be considered to have become themselves the new art directors of digital media. Users are now also the creators., that's why designers should give up some controls to users, in order for their digital designs to be successful.
Multiple users = multiple diverse behaviours = multiple diversity of experiences
Digital art directors should be able to maintain a cohesive and consistent vision across various software, browsers, devices, platforms etc. , so that the core values of the project are maintained across various experiences and environments.
Digital media is about conversation: good narrative provides great conversations outlets among users. Good digital art direction provides narratives that generate potential for conversations and interactivity between users, which then shape behavioural experiences
Digital art directors should use narratives to shape clear products and guide users through a cohesive experience (by using traditional art direction tools (typography, imagery, writing, branding, advertising etc).
"as technology evolves, users will become more accustomed to digitally interpreted traditional design values".
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