art director
Americannoun
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Movies, Television. the person who determines the staging requirements for a production and often designs the sets or supervises their building and dressing.
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Also called art editor. a person who is responsible for the selection, execution, production, etc., of graphic art for a publication, advertising agency, or the like.
noun
Etymology
Origin of art director
First recorded in 1930–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Once the winner is determined, trophies will go to the album’s art director and the designers, photographers and illustrators will receive a certificate.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2026
Anna Macdonald, an art director there, said engagement with "exciting visuals and incredible storylines" gave children "a break" from the everyday.
From BBC • Dec. 13, 2025
We’d met the summer before on his first feature film, Dementia 13, where I had assisted the art director.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025
Before breaking into the entertainment industry in 1964 with the short film “A Texas Romance, 1909,” Benton moved to New York and was an art director for Esquire magazine.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025
In every TV Guide and Parade ad, he had his art director put a little gold box in the corner of the order coupon.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
