Design Studio Manager

Design Studio Manager

Coordination of all production aspects from concept, creative, project management, and execution to deliver a high-quality and effective final product for the client.


What they love about their jobs

Creative professionals talk about their favorite parts of their day.

Susy Siddens
“I get to bring joy through positive communications that help people do outstanding work.”
Susy Siddens
Design Studio Manager at Sans Serif
Michael McNamara
“I love being in a position to help improve the advertising industry's underrepresentation by POC.”
Michael McNamara
Studio Manager at McKinney Health
Alyson Lawrence
“I love getting to make design choices that foster growth in my company and community and also within the people working next to me. ”
Alyson Lawrence
Design Manager at Adweek
Cori Spruiell
"I love building relationships with my creative colleagues and setting them up to succeed—especially on challenging projects."
Cori Spruiell
PM at The Walt Disney Company

Where this is needed

🎬
Film
Credits roll for ten minutes because it takes thousands of creative people to make the movies and shows you love, from concepting to the storytelling and actual production, every creative job you can imagine exists in this industry.
🎵
Music
It’s more than music that keeps creative minds busy in the always-evolving music industry. Album art, videos, graphic design, photoshoots, digital experiences, the list goes on for creative output that supports all genres.
🧵
Fashion
Style is always evolving, and the industry doesn’t just need apparel and footwear designers. Magazine editors, writers, photoshoot producers, and many more roles are in demand.
💄
Beauty
Beauty and cosmetics live and breathe branding, and the industry needs creative leaders to make interesting, distinctive designs, campaigns and identities that connect with a wide range of customers.
🎮
Gaming
A massively growing industry that needs creatives of all kinds not only to build games, but to plan the characters, create the campaigns, and envision what’s next.
📢
Marketing
The key to marketing is clear and persuasive storytelling, and that means writing, design, digital experiences, photography and a lot more that goes into bringing a brand’s value to its customers convincingly.
🍴
Food & Beverage
It’s more than making things taste good; there’s brand-building, packaging design and advertising of all kinds in this massive global industry.
🩺
Healthcare
Healthcare and health insurance brands offer a complex service which means creative leadership is required to differentiate and clarify a complicated and often stressful experience for the consumer.

Skills to thrive in this field

🎨
Creative
Ability to see situations in imaginative, fresh ways, spurring new ideas
🏄
Dynamic
Possess an understanding of key roles-copywriter, graphic/video designer, etc
💬
Impeccable communicator
Provide clear direction, listen, comprehend various personalities
🔍
Detail-oriented
Provide undivided attention to others’ actions and information
🕰️
Time management
Allocate tasks, schedule key players, analyze time use
📈
Analytical
Effectively assess talent - marrying correct concepts to individuals

Commonly used tools

Asana
Asana
Work management tool for teams to plan, organize and manage their work
Trello
Trello
A kanban style project management and organization tool
Google Sheets
Google Sheets
An online spreadsheet application for creation and modification of data
Miro
Miro
Whiteboarding software for collaboration
Mural
Mural
Whiteboarding tool to let teams collaborate visually to solve problems
Figma
Figma
A cloud-based collaborative design platform
Sign up to learn more with Creative Ladder

Sign up to learn more with Creative Ladder

Join The Creative Ladder community for access to more learning and career resources! It's free and packed with some of the top leaders in today's creative industries.