Production artist
Encyclopedia
A production artist is a technical and creative position in a creative profession
. The job title originated at advertising agencies
, assigning what was known as paste-up
work (now prepress
production) to the position. Production artists work closely with the designer and art director to execute the design. What distinguishes "production art" from design is opportunities to utilize prepress knowledge into creativity
and design
training in the work involved. The degree of technical knowledge required for some production art work may be comparable to higher skilled engineering, especially with computers.
The position was once exclusive to print media until creative services
departments began to offer electronic media
such as web page
s and CD-ROM
s. Skill requirements for a production artist are creative, print production, and working knowledge in using art software
of creative industries. Job descriptions for production artists are usually tailored to a company's specific needs. Alternate job titles such as "multimedia specialist" have been used to expand the role of production artists to multimedia
development. Entry level multimedia work may include data entry
or basic skill level programming tasks.
In companies that provide mass printing, novelty item printing, and out-of-home advertising
printing, this position requires an encyclopedic knowledge of pre-press and printing standards through a variety of methods. It is often a higher paid position than a graphic designer, as it requires more technical knowledge.
Per Comic Book historian Mark Evanier
, in that industry the position generally has involved "lettering corrections, art touch-ups, laying out advertising and other editorial material and generally doing whatever in the office required the services of someone who could draw a little."http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_01_21.html#016563
Production assistant
is a similar position in the film industry
.
Creative industries
The creative industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information...
. The job title originated at advertising agencies
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
, assigning what was known as paste-up
Paste up
Paste up refers to a method of creating or laying out publication pages that predates the use of the now-standard computerized page design desktop publishing programs. Completed, or camera-ready, pages are known as mechanicals or mechanical art...
work (now prepress
Prepress
Prepress is the term used in the printing and publishing industries for the processes and procedures that occur between the creation of a print layout and the final printing...
production) to the position. Production artists work closely with the designer and art director to execute the design. What distinguishes "production art" from design is opportunities to utilize prepress knowledge into creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
and design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
training in the work involved. The degree of technical knowledge required for some production art work may be comparable to higher skilled engineering, especially with computers.
The position was once exclusive to print media until creative services
Creative services
Creative services are a subsector of the creative industries, a part of the economy that creates wealth by offering creativity for hire to other businesses. Creative Services also means a department within a company that does creative work such as writing, designing, and production. It is often a...
departments began to offer electronic media
Electronic media
Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end-user to access the content. This is in contrast to static media , which today are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end-user in the printed form...
such as web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
s and CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s. Skill requirements for a production artist are creative, print production, and working knowledge in using art software
Art software
Graphic art software is a subclass of application software used for graphic design, multimedia development, specialized image development, general image editing, or simply to access graphic files...
of creative industries. Job descriptions for production artists are usually tailored to a company's specific needs. Alternate job titles such as "multimedia specialist" have been used to expand the role of production artists to multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
development. Entry level multimedia work may include data entry
Data entry clerk
A data entry clerk, sometimes called a typist, is a member of staff employed to type data into a database using a keyboard. The keyboards used can often have specialist keys and multiple colours to help them in the task and speed up the work.-Examples:...
or basic skill level programming tasks.
In companies that provide mass printing, novelty item printing, and out-of-home advertising
Out-of-home advertising
Out-of-home advertising is made up of more than 100 different formats, totaling $6.99 billion in annual revenues in 2008 in the USA. Outdoor advertising is essentially any type of advertising that reaches the consumer while he or she is outside the home...
printing, this position requires an encyclopedic knowledge of pre-press and printing standards through a variety of methods. It is often a higher paid position than a graphic designer, as it requires more technical knowledge.
Per Comic Book historian Mark Evanier
Mark Evanier
Mark Stephen Evanier is an American comic book and television writer, particularly known for his humor work. He is also known for his columns and blogs, and for his work as a historian and biographer of the comics industry, in particular his award-winning Jack Kirby biography, Kirby: King of...
, in that industry the position generally has involved "lettering corrections, art touch-ups, laying out advertising and other editorial material and generally doing whatever in the office required the services of someone who could draw a little."http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_01_21.html#016563
Production assistant
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...
is a similar position in the film industry
Film industry
The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew...
.