Art Direction What you need to know

For those members who’ve had the pleasure of visiting the office space-cum-gallery BIPP’s head office, you will know that feeling when stepping into the ‘house’ - it oozes with creativity and makes your inner artist leap out.

The Artistry House is an office space-cum-gallery , formed by an innovative Preston-based creative agency, Wash Studio, dripping in cutting-edge design and decorated with captivating artwork - it’s a place the BIPP is proud to call home.

Founder and Creative Director Andy Walmsley speaks to ‘the Photographer’ about his decades of industry experience working with leading photographers to produce standout imagery in the studio and out on location for global campaigns and projects.

What about the Art Director?

So, before you photography folks out there get all defensive and think, ‘I don’t need an Art Director’ or have no idea what an Art Director does, for that matter - let me explain:

‘An Art Director is a person who manages and directs a team of creatives, such as designers, copywriters and photographers. Art Directors usually oversee the overall concept of a project and manage the individuals who work on the various creative aspects and outputs of that project.

‘They create a culture of exploration and experimentation, but equally one where they are guided by the brand strategy and creative briefs. So there you have it! That’s Art Direction.’

My Art Direction Story

Before I became Founder and Creative Director of Wash Studio back in 2003, I’d been an Art Director in many small North West agencies prior. However, it was purely a ‘self-titled’ role in the early days as I also had little knowledge of the Art Directing duties. In fact, I had none, until one day, whilst working as a young graphic designer in a jobbing studio in Preston, a chap rocked up outside in his Porsche 911, jumped out, flicked his ponytail and headed into the studio to brief our team on some photography layouts and directions he’d created. He was the ‘Art Director’ from a larger Manchester agency who we were sub-contracting for at the time... and it was love at first sight! That was the job for me. (This was the 80s, by the way.)

For me, this was a way out of just simply sitting on –what was then – a drawing board all day. I wasn’t the best designer, and I wanted to get out and about on photography shoots. I wanted to create concepts and see them come to life. This seemed so much more exciting than pushing fonts and logos around all day. It was such an eye opener for me and a turning point in my career. But it wasn’t an easy move by any stretch.

I left school at the age of 16 without any qualifications apart from my Art ‘O’Level. However, this managed to land me a job at Hamilton Press in Preston on a Youth Opportunity Scheme, being paid roughly £25 a week. And from then, I jobbed around various local newspapers as a paste-up artist and then became a graphic designer. But I was never trained properly; I just picked things up as I went, and I didn’t have much understanding or insight of the industry I was in. It was only when I got the job at the agency in Preston called Longcastle that the creative field I was in started to open up for me.

The other problem I had was that I couldn’t fit into the ‘city agency’ life. I didn’t particularly want to go to London or Manchester, and although I did try, I got many rejections. So, I needed to make it work up here in Lancashire. But the projects I had to work on back then simply didn’t have the budgets to justify letting me loose on them as an Art Director. So it was a tough climb all the way.

However, what I did do was start to engage with local photographers. This proved tricky at first as many of those hadn’t worked with Art Directors, and many didn’t want pushing out of their comfort zone. Many were far too stuck in their ways.

By the early 90s, I was working at a small creative studio in Blackpool, called Encore, run by a great guy called Ed Christiano. Teamed up with then copywriter Phil Reagan, I was truly let loose as an Art Director. Ed gave me the freedom to come up with engaging concepts and gave me the confidence to sell them in. I was off... and on one cold February morning at Encore, a young photographer by the name of Sean Conboy turned up to show his portfolio. And I loved it. He was the photographer for me.

After months of pushing ideas and selling concepts, eventually, we got our break and started working together. Suddenly my portfolio was looking stronger and more professional, and this made it easier to sell in the Art Direction to clients who, back then, didn’t really get it or use that approach. However, they soon realised that what we were delivering was starting to give them the edge over their competition, as their marketing collateral started to look and work so much harder than it had before. A winwin.

So over the years, I built my portfolio whilst working with some great photographers: Sean Conboy, Jonathan Oaks, Adrian Ray, John Spinks, Tony Blake, Jonathan Beer and Kate Abbey, and with clients such as GORE, Hyundai, MG, Jaguar Land Rover, MediaCity, Baird Group, Allied London, Bovis Lend Lease, to name a few. Things went from strength to strength.

Working with a great photographer is something I love. Pushing an idea back and forth between you and making something look amazing is such a joy. I recommend to any young photographer who is possibly wondering which direction to take their work to try hooking up with a young, ambitious, slightly crazy Art Director and just see where you can push things.