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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Art Coordinator

💰 $ - $

Creative ServicesProductionMarketing

🎯 Role Definition

The Art Coordinator is a hands-on creative operations professional responsible for coordinating the production, delivery, and quality control of visual assets across print and digital channels. This role supports creative teams, liaises with internal stakeholders and external vendors, maintains asset libraries and production schedules, and ensures brand and legal compliance for all art deliverables. The Art Coordinator balances operational rigor with design sensitivity to keep projects on deadline, on budget, and on brand.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Production Assistant / Studio Assistant supporting creative workflow and basic prepress tasks.
  • Junior Graphic Designer who has experience coordinating proofs, assets, and vendor interactions.
  • Traffic Coordinator or Project Assistant within a marketing/advertising studio.

Advancement To:

  • Senior Art Coordinator / Production Manager overseeing multiple campaigns and vendors.
  • Traffic Manager or Creative Operations Manager managing process, tools, and resource planning.
  • Studio Manager or Head of Production responsible for budgeting, vendor strategy and studio operations.

Lateral Moves:

  • Digital Asset Manager focusing on DAM systems and taxonomy.
  • Vendor Relations / Procurement specialist for creative services.
  • Print Production Specialist concentrating on prepress and press operations.

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage end-to-end art production schedules for multi-channel campaigns, ensuring all print and digital artwork is delivered on time by coordinating designers, copywriters, and external vendors against weekly and monthly production calendars.
  • Serve as the central point of contact between creative teams, brand managers, and external suppliers (printers, illustrators, photographers, motion vendors) to clarify technical specifications, timelines, and cost expectations for each deliverable.
  • Review incoming artwork and production files for technical accuracy (bleeds, crop marks, color modes, resolution, file formats) and route files back to creators with clear, actionable feedback to meet prepress and digital publishing standards.
  • Maintain the digital asset management (DAM) system: ingest new assets, apply consistent metadata and taxonomy, purge deprecated files, and enforce naming conventions so teams can find approved artwork quickly and reliably.
  • Prepare and distribute vendor-ready files (print-ready PDFs, press plates, web-optimized images, SVGs) including color proofing and preflight checks to prevent costly reprints and production delays.
  • Coordinate and schedule photo shoots and studio sessions by booking talent, locations, prop rentals, and post-production timelines, and by compiling shot lists and usage licenses for legal compliance.
  • Track purchase orders, invoices, and vendor contracts related to art production; reconcile vendor invoices against purchase orders and deliverables to maintain accurate production budgets.
  • Create and maintain detailed proofing logs and revision histories for each project, documenting stakeholder approvals, version control, and any scope changes to protect the team from scope creep and liability.
  • Implement and enforce brand guidelines across all produced art, ensuring consistent application of logos, color palettes, typography, image treatments, and legal notices across channels.
  • Coordinate multilingual art adaptations and localization for global markets by working with translation vendors, local markets, and designers to ensure culturally appropriate and technically accurate artwork.
  • Conduct quality assurance (QA) for print and digital deliverables: spot-check color fidelity, cropping, alignment, font embedding, links, and interactivity to ensure pixel-perfect execution across media.
  • Facilitate weekly creative production status meetings, prepare actionable agendas and follow-up trackers, and distribute updates to stakeholders to keep distributed teams aligned on priorities and deadlines.
  • Manage asset version control and archival processes; migrate legacy assets into current DAM architecture and maintain an audit trail for compliance, reuse, and legal retention policies.
  • Optimize production workflows by identifying recurring bottlenecks, proposing improvements to proofing cycles and approval gates, and piloting tools (project management, proofing, DAM) that increase throughput and reduce errors.
  • Liaise with legal and compliance teams to secure clearances, model releases, copyright checks, and third-party usage rights for all imagery, typefaces, and creative elements before publication.
  • Prepare technical specifications and guidelines for new campaigns (file dimensions, DPI, color profiles, export settings) and distribute clear templates to design teams to reduce rework and speed up time-to-publish.
  • Manage label, packaging, and POS art production with attention to dielines, structural pack considerations, regulatory copy placement and barcode quality to ensure shelf-ready approval.
  • Coordinate the production and delivery logistics for physical collateral (brochures, banners, signage) by arranging print runs, shipping, and on-site installation timelines when applicable.
  • Support launch day operations by performing final preflight checks, uploading approved assets to CMS/eCommerce platforms, and coordinating last-minute fixes with designers and developers.
  • Act as the escalation contact for production emergencies—triage issues, mobilize vendors and internal stakeholders, and document resolutions to improve future incident responses.
  • Train and onboard new team members and cross-functional partners on production processes, proofing platforms, asset handoff standards, and brand tooling to build scalable creative operations capacity.
  • Generate and present regular production performance reports and KPIs (on-time delivery rate, revision counts, cost variances, vendor turnaround times) to management to inform continuous improvement and vendor negotiations.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist with procurement and evaluation of creative tools and SaaS platforms (proofing tools, DAM, project management) by gathering requirements, running vendor demos, and preparing ROI-focused recommendations.
  • Support archival and legal hold requests by retrieving, packaging, and delivering historical art files and metadata to legal or audit teams in a secure and auditable way.
  • Participate in cross-functional planning sessions for seasonal campaigns and product launches to align production capacity and resource allocation with marketing timelines.
  • Maintain and update production templates, checklists, and SOPs to reflect process changes and incorporate feedback from creative and vendor partners.
  • Coordinate training sessions and create quick-reference guides for non-design stakeholders on how to submit print-ready files and common file preparation mistakes.
  • Help run basic color calibration and monitor profiling checks for the studio to ensure consistent on-screen proofing fidelity across design workstations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Adobe Creative Suite proficiency (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) with demonstrable ability to prepare print-ready files and make production edits.
  • Prepress and print production knowledge: bleeds, trim/crop marks, color profiles (CMYK/Spot), trapping, and RIP workflows.
  • Digital asset management (DAM) systems experience — organizing, tagging, and migrating large libraries of assets with metadata best-practices.
  • Proofing and annotation tools familiarity (e.g., InVision, ProofHQ, Filestage, Adobe Review) to manage approval cycles and capture stakeholder feedback.
  • File formatting and optimization for web and mobile (JPEG/PNG/WebP/SVG), and understanding of responsive image requirements and export presets.
  • Basic knowledge of color management, ICC profiles, and soft vs. hard proofing to reduce color variance between proofs and press runs.
  • Vendor and print shop liaison skills including RFP creation, vendor selection, PO management, and invoice reconciliation.
  • Project management and scheduling tools proficiency (e.g., Asana, Jira, Monday.com, Airtable) for tracking deliverables and timelines.
  • Familiarity with packaging dielines, label regulations, and retail production standards for POS and shelf-ready merchandising.
  • Basic HTML/CSS awareness for coordinating with web teams on asset placement, alt text, and image optimization during site launches.
  • Strong version control and archival discipline, including file naming conventions and maintaining historical revision histories.
  • Understanding of licensing, copyrights, model/property releases, and clearance workflows to mitigate legal risk before publication.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional communication skills to translate technical production requirements into plain language for designers, vendors, and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Strong attention to detail and visual judgment to catch production errors, subtle branding inconsistencies, and layout issues before release.
  • Excellent time management and prioritization: ability to juggle simultaneous campaigns, last-minute changes, and fast turnarounds without compromising quality.
  • Problem-solving and escalation management: quick decision-making under pressure and the ability to coordinate rapid fixes across distributed teams.
  • Collaborative mindset: building constructive relationships with creative teams, marketing stakeholders, legal, and external vendors to drive shared outcomes.
  • Customer-service orientation and tact when delivering corrective feedback to designers or external partners.
  • Negotiation and vendor-management tact to balance cost, speed, and quality in vendor contracts and print quotes.
  • Adaptability to changing priorities and new production technologies while maintaining reliable delivery standards.
  • Process-oriented thinking with a continuous-improvement mentality to streamline proofing and approval workflows.
  • Teaching and documentation skills for onboarding colleagues and producing clear SOPs and how-to guides.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Art Production, Marketing, or a related field. An associate degree plus relevant hands-on production experience is acceptable for many mid-level roles.

Preferred Education:

  • B.A. or B.F.A. in Graphic Design, Visual Communications, Print Production, or Packaging Design.
  • Certification or coursework in project management, prepress, or digital asset management is a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Graphic Design
  • Visual Communications
  • Print / Packaging Production
  • Marketing / Advertising
  • Arts Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5+ years in art production, creative operations, or studio coordination roles within an agency, in-house marketing team, retail brand, or print production environment.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years managing art production workflows, vendor relationships, and DAM systems.
  • Demonstrated track record of coordinating print and digital campaigns with measurable improvements in on-time delivery, reduction in revision cycles, or cost savings.
  • Experience working with cross-functional stakeholders including legal/compliance, digital teams, and procurement.
  • Prior exposure to packaging or retail POS production is strongly preferred for product-focused roles.
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