Creative direction and production may sound simple enough on paper, but the reality is often complex. The director must maintain a cohesive visual style for a given brand, which can include but is not limited to, campaigns and projects involving film and photography for promotional materials, brand consistency, marketing and so on.
These endeavors are certainly no easy task and require a keen eye for detail and a level of precision and familiarity with a brand’s spirit that few possess and fewer still have mastered. Creative director and producer Sara Rados is one of these talented few, having directed materials for big-name brands like Sephora, Salt and Stone, Ariana Grande and Target, to name a few, for over eight years.
Developing the Skills to Refine Talent
Rados’ creative work started at Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where Rados received her Bachelor of Design degree. During her time at university, Rados was honored to win the Art Directors Club award for Best Portfolio. She says that she “was selected out of the entire advertising graduating class as the winner with the most promising portfolio.”
“I wanted to pursue a career in the creative sphere, from traditional advertising to creative directing with brands,” Rados added.
Rados has certainly worked hard and achieved many of her aspirations. This is evident through her direction of a photoshoot for the beauty brand Salt and Stone at Sephora Canada. The photos from this shoot went live on Sephora’s website and were printed out as end caps for Sephora stores, an impressive statement about Rados’s skillset and brand understanding.
A Unique Position to Be More
Rados’ expertise does not stop at the tasks typically assigned to traditional creative directors. She states, “As a multi-hyphenate creative director, I am in a unique position to take on more roles outside of the traditional creative director title. My work experience has varied from high-level creative directing to producing, styling, casting, interior designing, prop styling, social media management, client relations, and copywriting. I’ve even been the hand model for some of my beauty shoots!”
It seems Rados is not only unbothered by these additional challenges but also chooses to take them head-on in an effort to become a fully realized and well-rounded creative director. She explains, “Throughout my career, I’ve rarely turned down an opportunity to learn a new job or skill, even if at the time it felt like a departure from my goal of being a ‘creative director.’”
“I believe that experiencing a little bit of every single production role is part of a great creative director’s journey,” Rados continues. “Being able to truly understand and empathize with everyone’s roles and unique challenges puts me in the position to lead a more seamless production and create a more harmonious creative environment.”
A More Harmonious Creative Environment
Direction and production involve making sure every component of every subset of work going into a project goes right, and that certainty only comes with determination and unshakable confidence in oneself and one’s team. Sara Rados’s creative direction exemplifies these qualities, and she’s only just getting started.
