What Does it Mean to be a Creative Director?
Photo from shoot for Humphreys Gloves by me, Kat Hannon
In the world of photography, people tend to misunderstand the role of the creative director.
The term ‘creative director’ is simply a job title and, technically, anyone could refer to themselves as a creative director. However, what does it actually mean to be one and who should the title apply to?
Contrary to popular belief, not every freelance photographer should call themselves a creative director because it involves more than just turning up and taking photographs.
In this article, we’re going to look at what a creative director is, how it relates to photographers and what traits are best suited to someone working in this job role.
What is a Creative Director?
A creative director is a role that works across a few different industries including marketing, advertising, art, photography and more.
Ultimately, the job involves making high level creative decisions and taking an idea from an initial concept to a final product whether that be an advert, a collection of photos, a film or something else entirely.
Is the Photographer Always the Creative Director?
So, the short answer is no.
When it comes to photography, there may be a creative director and a photographer on one shoot or the photographer could be the creative director themselves.
For big editorial campaigns such as Vogue or Vanity Fair, it’s likely that the creative director would be a separate person to the photographer as they often work in large teams with a variety of experts. This would mean that the creative director would advise the photographer, the make-up artists, the stylists, the hairdressers and the rest of the creative team on how to achieve their ultimate vision.
For many freelance photographers, it often happens that they are the creative director on a lot of their shoots; this means they decide how to style, pose and capture their models on shoots, as well as co-ordinating and organising the rest of the project team; however, this is also depends on clients and whether they have their own in-house creative directors for commercial projects.
On many of my projects, I creatively direct, but this doesn’t necessarily mean I am always the creative director on every shoot.
When I work with big clients, for example, they may have an in-house director they want to use. As a freelancer, my creative director status very much depends on who I am working with and whether they already have a creative lead in place.
What Does it Mean to be the Creative Director & Photographer?
The perks of being both the creative director and the photographer are that it allows you the creative freedom to achieve your vision.
Rather than taking directions and instructions from someone else, you are able to make decisions using your own creative judgement.
There is also much more to directing than just taking photographs; it also involves co-ordinating an entire shoot and making sure the assistant photographers, the stylists, the make-up artists, the models all understand your vision and are carrying it out in the way you want.
Can a Freelancer be a Creative Director?
Whether a freelancer can call themselves a creative director is an interesting topic, because traditionally a creative director would work within a company managing the creative strategies for various projects.
It’s completely subjective, but my thoughts are that if you are a freelance photographer with many years of experience co-ordinating, planning and directing photoshoots can certainly be considered a creative director.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to how much experience you’ve had creatively directing.
For example, if you take one photograph, that doesn’t make you a photographer; but the more you take, the better you become and the more worthy you become of that title. It’s the same with creative direction.
Do I Consider Myself to be a Creative Director?
Given that I’ve worked in photography for over 20 years and I’ve managed many big shoots, I would certainly consider myself a creative director, but this doesn’t mean I creatively direct on every shoot.
My main job title is a photographer because that’s what I do and that’s what I love, but I also have a flair for creative direction, so I would definitely consider that to be my secondary title.
My experience has involved working with a number of big clients where I have been responsible for organising models, locations, assistant photographers, and pulling together a creative team to ensure the final photographic results align with my vision as well as the clients brand.
From the general description and perception of what a creative director is and does, I would say that many of the shoots I have worked on, I have certainly directed them as well as being the lead photographer.
Test Shoot with Portia Lucille by me, Kat Hannon
Can you Still Creatively Direct When Working with Clients?
Any freelancer will know that working with clients means compromise.
As a professional, you can’t just do exactly what you want to do without any consideration for the client.
With every client shoot, there will be a project brief and this should give the photographer an outline of what they want from the final images.
The specifics of the brief vary from client to client, you may get some people who detail exactly where to shoot, what models, stylists and make-up artists to use and what poses they want in each image.
In this case, it makes it much more difficult to insert your own ideas into the project, but not impossible, you just have to get creative and isn’t that the whole point anyhow?
However, other clients will tend to write briefs that are a little more vague- they might mention that they want some images outside and inside and the aesthetic of photographs they like, but nothing too specific.
This is where your creative direction can really take flight. If the clients are open to your suggestions, you could organise which models would work best, the location, the poses, the props, the make up artist and other important aspects of the shoot.
Being able to creatively direct with clients is possible, but it’s totally dependent on the client and how much input they want to have into the project.
What is the Creative Direction Process?
Andy Hair Styling by me, Kat Hannon
As with most things, the process of each creative director depends on the individual.
From experience in creative direction, the process I use always starts with the client brief. Once I’ve established what the client is trying to achieve with their imagery, I can then start to build a concrete plan of how to proceed.
Usually, I’ll start with a Pinterest board; this means collating a bunch of images in the style the client is looking for but with my own ideas and concepts weaved in.
These images will give me a flavour of what sort of models, locations, poses and make up looks I think will work for the project.
Next, I tend to plan out what sort of backdrops, props and outfit combos I’ll need to achieve the final look.
Planning out the actual shots is the most important part of the process for me; this involves jotting down a list of what poses I want from the model/s against which backdrops in the chosen outfits and accessories.
From there, I’ll start reaching out to my contacts who I think would be a good fit for the job.
On the day of the shoot, I’ll start with my list of shots and start working through them, making sure that the creative team has been briefed and are clear about how to achieve my ultimate vision.
When I’ve worked my way through the shot list, this is when you can start to have some fun; I tend to get inspired by the location, so I take inspiration from what’s around me and start getting experimental.
After shoot day, I edit the images with notes from the client, as well as making the tweaks I think are necessary to get to the final collection of images.
Once I’ve checked that the clients are happy with the final outcome, then the creative process is complete.
Every creative director will have a different process, it is entirely dependent on the person and what works best for them.
What Are Some Good Traits to Have as a Creative Director?
There are many traits that are useful when it comes to being a creative director, but here are 5 top qualities that are especially important:
Decisiveness; you need to be comfortable with making quick, snappy decisions
Flexibility- you need to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and adjust your project plan accordingly
Organisation; you and be able to co-ordinate a creative project so that it all runs smoothly (this includes putting together the right team, finding the location, styling the outfits so that they all match your ultimate vision for the end product)
Collaborative; you need to be able to communicate well with your team and work with other skilled creatives
Imaginative; you need to think outside the box and have a clear vision of what each of your projects is going to look like
Of course, as with everything else, the traits will vary based on each creative director and their approach; however, as a rule of thumb, organisation and collaboration are probably the main necessities for a role in creative direction.
What is the Best Type of Shoot to Creatively Direct?
Test Shoot by me, Kat Hannon
Although client work is a great opportunity to bring someone else’s vision to life, test shoots are one of the best ways to creatively direct with total freedom.
The great thing about test shoots is that you can do exactly what in terms of location, models, make up, styling and outfits; this gives you the chance to build a portfolio in the photography niche you want to excel at.
Test shoots are a crucial aspect of scaling your photography business because they allow you to execute your vision without any brief, meaning you can create whatever you like.
At the end of the day, only you know whether or not you are a creative director, but, ultimately, it all comes down to experience and experimentation.
If you are hoping to become a creative director in the future, whether it’s in marketing, editing, photography or another creative industry, just remember to get creative and take every opportunity that comes your way.
If you are looking for a photographer to creatively direct a project or shoot you are planning, please feel free to get in touch with me at contact@kathannon.com or fill out the contact form on my website.
