Art Directors

This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

Art directors are the ones who manage the artistic and design elements in a film or television production and make sure that the overall visual appearance of a project communicates to the audience the message that the film or television production desires to convey. Art directors are required not only in the fields of film making and television production, but also in advertising, publishing and animation. Art direction is an extremely creative and demanding profession; one needs to be highly imaginative and resourceful to pursue a successful career in this field. Also sometimes called a design director or creative director, they are responsible for supervising the various artists who are working on the artistic appeal of a particular scene. The art director is in-charge of ensuring that the overall visual appearance of the project strikes the right chord with the audiences in terms of the contrasting moods and psychological effects the project is supposed to elicit. Their job is very challenging as it is very difficult to translate ideas, emotions, and abstract concepts into visual imagery. In films and television, the art director works in collaboration with the production designer, set decorators and set designers. Browse this section to discover about the life and works of famous art directors from all over the world, through their biographies and timelines.

Vote for Your Favourite Art Directors

Michael Cudlitz

(Actor)

Birthdate: December 29, 1964

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Long Island, New York, USA

Satoshi Kon

(Animator, Film director, Screenwriter, Mangaka)

Birthdate: October 12, 1963

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Kushiro

Died: August 24, 2010

Hideaki Anno

(Film director, Animator, Actor, Screenwriter, Film producer, Film actor)

Birthdate: May 22, 1960

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Ube

Recommended Lists:

Actors

Actresses

Eric Stefani

(Musician)

Birthdate: June 17, 1967

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Fullerton, California, USA

Recommended Lists:

Child Actors

Child Actresses

Makoto Shinkai

(Film director, Voice actor, Animator, Screenwriter)

Birthdate: February 9, 1973

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Koumi

Best known for his animated film Your Name, which became the third-highest-grossing anime movie in history, animator and manga artist Makoto Shinkai had initially studied Japanese literature. His Weathering with You was Japan’s official submission for Best International Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. He is also dubbed The New Miyazaki.

Saul Bass

(Graphic designer)

Birthdate: 1920

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA

Died: April 5, 1996

Recommended Lists:

Cinematographers

Comedians

Paul Rand

(Art Director)

Birthdate: August 5, 1914

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Died: November 26, 1996

John Romero

(Video game designer)

Birthdate: October 28, 1967

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.

Recommended Lists:

Directors

Film Editors

Denzel Whitaker

(Actor)

Birthdate: June 15, 1990

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Torrance, California, USA

John Kricfalusi

(Animator)

Birthdate: September 9, 1955

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada

Recommended Lists:

Film Score Composers

Former Child Actors

Bud Luckey

(Animator)

Birthdate: July 28, 1934

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Billings, Montana, USA

Died: February 24, 2018

Clyde Klotz

(Canadian Television Art Director and Production Designer)

Birthdate: June 8, 1961

Sun Sign: Gemini

Birthplace: Canada

Canadian art director/production designer Clyde Klotz is better known as The X Files actor Gillian Anderson’s first husband. Klotz has worked on several movies and shows, such as 50 Shades of Grey and 21 Jump Street. Anderson and Klotz had tied the knot in a Buddhist ceremony in Hawaii.

Recommended Lists:

Reality TV Personalities

Screenwriters

Sergey Yosifovich Paradzhanov

(Soviet Film Director, Artist, and Screenwriter)

Birthdate: January 9, 1924

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Tbilisi, Georgia

Died: July 20, 1990

Eiko Ishioka

(Art Director)

Birthdate: July 12, 1938

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan

Died: January 21, 2012

Recommended Lists:

Stand-up Comedians

T V & Movie Producers

Massimo Vignelli

(Graphic designer, Architect, University teacher)

Birthdate: January 10, 1931

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Milan

Died: May 27, 2014

Italian designer and co-founder of Vignelli Associates, Massimo Vignelli had designed everything from dinnerware to furniture. Known for experimenting with geometric shapes, he also had a long association with Unimark. His own home interiors had been designed by him. He had also designed the New York City subway map.

Jorge Gutierrez

(Animator who co-wrote and directed The Book of Life, which was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film)

Birthdate: 1975 AD

Birthplace: Mexico City, Mexico

Recommended Lists:

Theater Personalities

Voice Actors

Herbert Bayer

(American Graphic Designer, Painter, Photographer, Sculptor and Art Director)

Birthdate: April 5, 1900

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Haag am Hausruck, Austria

Died: September 30, 1985

An artistic polymath, Herbert Bayer was a graphic designer, painter, photographer, sculptor, art director, environmental and interior designer, and architect, known for advocating integration of all art forms. Born in Austria and educated at Bauhaus, he migrated to the USA after a successful stint in Europe and as ARCO's Art and Design Consultant built up the company’s vast art collection.

Cedric Gibbons

(Director)

Birthdate: March 23, 1893

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland

Died: July 26, 1960

Recommended Lists:

Voice Actresses

Hermann Zapf

(Type designer, Graphic designer, Calligrapher, University teacher, Postage stamp designer, Painter)

Birthdate: November 8, 1918

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Nuremberg

Died: June 4, 2015

Gustaf Gründgens

(Actor)

Birthdate: December 22, 1899

Sun Sign: Capricorn

Birthplace: Düsseldorf, Germany

Died: October 7, 1963

Helene Weigel

(Actress)

Birthdate: May 12, 1900

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Vienna, Austria

Died: May 6, 1971

Tibor Kalman

(Graphic designer)

Birthdate: July 6, 1949

Sun Sign: Cancer

Birthplace: Budapest

Died: May 2, 1999

Yuriy Norshteyn

(Soviet and Russian Animator and Filmmaker Who is Considered as the Best Animator of All Time)

Birthdate: September 15, 1941

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Penza, Russia

Yuriy Norshteyn is a Soviet and Russian animator and filmmaker best known for his short animated films like Tale of Tales, which is widely regarded as the greatest animated film of all time. Yuri Norstein is considered by many as the best animator of all time. He has received many prestigious awards, such as the People's Artist of Russia title.

William Cameron Menzies

(Film Production Designer)

Birthdate: July 29, 1896

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Died: March 5, 1957

Ali Hatami

(Film director)

Birthdate: August 19, 1944

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Tehran, Iran

Died: December 7, 1996

Rosario Nadal

(Consultant)

Birthdate: October 22, 1968

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Balearic Islands, Spain

Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson

(Musician, Art Director, and Allsherjargoði Who Pioneered the Use of Computers While Composing Music)

Birthdate: April 23, 1958

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Reykjavík, Iceland

Mitchell Leisen

(Director)

Birthdate: October 6, 1898

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Menominee, Michigan, United States

Died: October 28, 1972

Gabre-Medhin Tsegaye

(Ethiopian Poet)

Birthdate: August 17, 1936

Sun Sign: Leo

Birthplace: Ambo, Ethiopia

Died: February 25, 2006

Marcell Jankovics

(Film director, Screenwriter)

Birthdate: October 21, 1941

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Budapest

Robert F. Boyle

(Art Director)

Birthdate: October 10, 1909

Sun Sign: Libra

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

Died: August 1, 2010

Sabu Cyril

(Art director, Actor)

Birthdate: January 27, 1962

Sun Sign: Aquarius

Birthplace: Kerala

Sabu Cyril is an Indian production designer and art director best known for his work in the Indian film industry. One of the most popular and celebrated art directors in India, Cyril has received four National Film Awards for Best Production Design. He achieved international recognition for his work in the 2010 Tamil-language science fiction film Enthiran.

Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam

(Dancer)

Birthdate: April 21, 1967

Sun Sign: Taurus

Birthplace: Khorramshahr, Iran

Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam is an Iranian dancer, choreographer, director, and actor. Shahrokh, who works in Paris, is credited with founding the Nakissa Art Company where he formerly served as the artistic director. Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam is the first Iranian to be associated with the popular Comédie-Française troupe.

Yōichi Kotabe

(Animator, Mangaka)

Birthdate: September 15, 1936

Sun Sign: Virgo

Birthplace: Taipei

Takami Akai

(Illustrator)

Birthdate: November 21, 1961

Sun Sign: Scorpio

Birthplace: Yonago

Nelly Kaplan

(Writer, Filmmaker, Film director, Screenwriter, Essayist, Cinematographer)

Birthdate: April 11, 1931

Sun Sign: Aries

Birthplace: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Died: November 12, 2020

Argentine-born French author and filmmaker Nelly Kaplan began her career as an assistant of Abel Gance and later worked him on Austerlitz. She won several international awards for her short films, often focusing on women’s issues. She also taught at the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques.

Kōji Yamamura

(Film director, Animator)