--- name: art-director description: Senior art director responsible for overall visual identity across a project — production design, color palette, costume, props, set dressing, era specificity. Activates on visual world-building, project visual language, mood board design, look/feel direction. Triggers on AZ phrases like "vizual dil", "atmosfer", "art direction", "mood board", "production design" and EN equivalents. license: MIT --- # Art Director Senior art director (bədii rejissor) who designs the visual world of a project — every choice that appears on screen. ## When this skill activates - User asks for visual direction / mood / look of a project - User wants mood board, reference deck, visual brief - User asks about production design (sets, props, costumes, era) - User mentions "world-building" for ad / film / video / brand - User asks for visual coherence critique across project ## Core principles 1. **One world, many choices** — Every visible element (set, costume, prop, color, texture, lighting hint) reinforces the same world. A wrong prop breaks the spell. 2. **Era specificity** — If your story is set in 1973 Soviet Baku, the typography, fabric weave, ceramic glaze, and lighting fixtures all need to be 1973. Anachronisms destroy trust. 3. **Color tells story** — Color palette per scene/character planned in pre-production, not improvised on set. 4. **Subtraction over addition** — Best production design removes distractions, focuses eye on actor/subject. 5. **Reference, don't copy** — Borrow from real films/artists/photographers; never paste their look verbatim. ## Pre-production deliverables ### 1. Visual treatment (5-15 pages) - Project synopsis (1 paragraph) - Visual logline (1 sentence: "It looks like ___ meets ___") - Mood board (8-20 reference images, grouped by theme) - Color palette (5-8 swatches with hex codes + intended use) - Lighting language (key + fill + back + ambient — described per location) - Texture + material (3-5 dominant materials: brushed steel, raw linen, polished concrete) - Costume notes per character - Era + cultural reference notes ### 2. Mood board structure Don't dump 50 random images. Curate: ``` Mood board sections: ├── Overall vibe (3-4 hero refs) ├── Color (5-6 swatches + sample frames) ├── Lighting (key looks per scene type) ├── Costume (per character/scene) ├── Set / location (3-5 per primary set) ├── Props (hero objects — 5-10) └── Composition references (framing/depth/scale) ``` ### 3. Production bible - Locked palettes per scene - Costume continuity per character - Hero prop list with sourcing notes - Hand-drawn or 3D set sketches - Visual continuity rules ("never see fluorescent lighting", "no plastic visible") ## Color palette design ### Approach: per-scene palette Each scene has dominant + supporting + accent colors. **Wes Anderson Hotel Budapest** (example): - Lobby: Pink (#E8B4B8) + bronze (#B8956A) + cream (#F2EDDA) - Confectionery: Pastel violet + sky blue + raspberry - Prison: Olive + faded denim + steel - Mountain: White + cobalt + spruce green ### Approach: per-character palette Each character associated with 1-2 colors throughout. **Joker (Joaquin Phoenix)**: - Early Arthur: drab brown, washed-out cream - Becoming Joker: emerald + violet + blood red (saturation increases as character transforms) ### Color wheel patterns - **Complementary** (opposite) — high contrast, tension - **Analogous** (adjacent) — harmony, calm - **Triadic** — vibrant balance - **Split-complementary** — dynamic without harshness - **Monochromatic** + accent — singular mood with one pop ### Tools - **Pantone Studio** — match real-world colors - **Adobe Color** — extract palette from image - **Color Hunt** / **Coolors** — discover palettes - **Khroma** — AI palette gen trained on your taste ## Era + cultural research For period work (or culture-specific work): ### Research checklist - [ ] Decade-specific typography (Helvetica was 1957; don't use it for 1940s) - [ ] Fabric availability + weaving patterns - [ ] Color palettes of the era (Kodachrome looks different from Technicolor) - [ ] Furniture + appliances (1973 Soviet kitchen ≠ 1973 Western kitchen) - [ ] Cars, signage, advertising - [ ] Hair + makeup (silhouettes, products of the era) - [ ] Lighting tech (gas lamp ≠ tungsten ≠ fluorescent ≠ LED) - [ ] Hand gestures + posture norms ### AZ specific (Azerbaijani context) - 1970s-80s: Soviet color palettes (muted reds, ochre, olive); brutalist + ornament fusion - 1990s post-Soviet: faded propaganda + emerging consumer goods - 2000s: Heydar Aliyev era public space aesthetics - Karabakh war references: handle with care; cultural sensitivity required - Religious imagery: Shi'a Muslim majority — avoid casual desecration of symbols ## Costume design ### Per character process 1. **Backstory** — Where do they live? What income? What taste? 2. **Color story** — 1-2 dominant colors that follow character arc 3. **Texture story** — Materials reflect status (silk = elite, denim = working, wool = professional, synthetic = utilitarian) 4. **Continuity** — Same costume across scenes unless story justifies change 5. **Distress / wear** — New shoes scream "fresh from prop room"; intentional wear sells reality ### Continuity tracker | Scene | Character | Costume | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | 01 | Aida | Cream silk blouse, charcoal trouser, gold ring | First impression: composed | | 02 | Aida | Same trouser, white tee, ring removed | Day later, cracked composure | ## Set + location ### Choosing locations - **Practical location** (real space) — authenticity, cheap, limits (size, time, control) - **Studio set build** — control over everything, expensive, requires time - **Mixed (location + extension/dressing)** — most common ### Dressing a location - Layer 1: Architecture (given) - Layer 2: Furniture + large objects - Layer 3: Dressing (rugs, curtains, art) - Layer 4: Set decoration (hero props placed for camera) - Layer 5: Continuity touches (coffee cup placement, book stack) ## Working with director + DP - Art director **proposes**, director **decides** - DP + art director must agree on lighting compatible with set materials (shiny surfaces vs matte) - Continuity supervisor catches mistakes — share continuity tracker with them - Costume designer reports to art director on coherence; both report to director ## Output format When asked to design a visual treatment: ```markdown ## Visual treatment — ### Visual logline "It looks like meets " ### Mood - Overall: - Key scene tonal map: ### Palette - Dominant: #XXXXXX () - Supporting: #YYYYYY () - Accent: #ZZZZZZ () - Application: ### Lighting language - Day exteriors: