On Art Direction
by CREATIVE.VOYAGE
An in-depth exploration of the modern practice of shaping curated aesthetics, developing visual cues, and providing creative guidance, designed for current and future art directors and creative business owners. In this intimate online workshop and community, you’ll gain actionable insights into the strategies, tactics and tools of effective art direction, and learn how to use them to elevate your work and grow as a creator.
Even for many creative professionals, art direction can be a mysterious discipline.
What is art direction and how can it be done well? What does an art director do? How do they bring value to a company? Can art direction be useful if you do not want to be an art director?
If you are a photographer, strategist, storyteller, stylist, designer, or business owner, then art direction may be the missing link to complete your creative skillset.
As self-taught art directors, we found answers to those questions through practical work, research, trial and error, and patience; and we are still at the beginning of our journey.
At the same time, we believe some of the hard-won lessons and practical insights we’ve learned on the job through the last decade can be useful for anybody interested in this field; a curious beginner or a seasoned creative professional.
This online workshop will provide you with not only the mindset necessary to become a successful creative but also tools and industry-tested strategies and tactics you can implement into your creative toolkit.
Whether you want to develop into working as an art director, or you want to be familiarised with the practice, you will find ways to utilise your new skills in your business or other creative efforts.
Besides sharing the foundational skills, we’ll take the time to dive into some advanced strategies to support you in finding your voice and ways of nurturing your inner art director.
We are coming from a crossroads between commercial and boutique art direction that mixes multiple styles and aesthetics, and we will share our experience working with prestigious design and lifestyle brands and publications.
While this workshop will give you insights into art direction and our practices, this program is not designed to form you into an art director without prior knowledge or education. This workshop can be the beginning of that life-long journey or a companion on your current path.
Combining our experiences between fashion, design, interiors, graphics, photography, styling, and production, we hope to bring a modern, sophisticated outlook on art direction to help you inspire, develop and direct your creative projects.
Armin Tehrani & Mario Depicolzuane, On Art Direction Instructors
CURRICULUM
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Learning about the study of aesthetics and visuals that serves the artistic aspects of a brand, publication, campaign, or any other sort of communication. We will help define what it means to be an art director with your own unique interpretation to focus on the type of creative work you would like to deliver.
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Why art direction matters, including a look at examples of how an elevated aesthetic can strengthen your message and create memorable visual encounters that can affect the way you make decisions as a consumer.
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Demonstrating the practical tools and sharing the industry-tested methods to fulfil your creative arsenal of skills. Nowadays, art direction is translated into a whole new era of digital media where brands are constantly pouring out content. We will learn how to create timeless visual campaigns without losing brand integrity.
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Discover industry secrets and experiences from multi-million dollar brands to more independent yet respected boutique companies. We will reveal different techniques and processes for any scale project you may have in mind.
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How to determine and develop your look and artistic imprint on any project. Who are you, and why should it matter? We will help guide you on the path of finding your visual signature.
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Understanding the fundamentals of art direction while building a mindset as a forward-thinking creative. Trends come and go, but good art direction is timeless and can enlighten people 10 minutes or 10 years after being communicated.
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Curate your work resumé and drive yourself to create new work as well.
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Seeing yourself as not only an expert on art direction but also as a business. Let’s look beyond your circle and try to make a name that your clients won’t forget.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
3× Group 180-min Live Zoom Workshop Calls
October 18, 3—6 pm GMT+2
October 25, 3—6 pm GMT+2
November 1, 3—6 pm GMT+1
Lectures and Group Discussions
The workshop will take place online through live group Zoom calls. Each of the three sessions will consist of that week’s lecture, followed by a Q&A discussion. If you miss one of the group sessions, no worries, the recording will be shared with you; however, participation is highly recommended to get the most out of this workshop.
Art Direction Exercises & Templates
Doing the Work
This is not an online course, it’s a workshop. Each week you’ll receive new assignments and, if needed, appropriate templates, including mood boards, art direction briefs and more, so it’s easy to get started and explore.
2-month Access to Private Community Group
Online Community Forum
We use the Circle platform to host a private online discussion forum. It’s a place to continue the discussion from the lectures, ask questions between the sessions, share your progress, and connect directly with fellow creatives.
1:1 Consultation Call or Portfolio Review
personalized approach
After the lecture period (during November), each participant will get a 30-minute Zoom call with either Armin Tehrani or Mario Depicolzuane (booked on a first-come, first-served basis as soon as you purchase the workshop). This call can be a 100% personalized consultation, Q&A or portfolio review.
Max. 30 Participants Per Session
intimate creative community
We aim to create an intimate and engaged community of kindred creatives and provide ample support and attention through the workshop. Hence, we are limiting the number of participants in the workshop to only 30 students.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS
Armin Tehrani
FOUNDER OF DIRECTION BUREAUX
Armin Tehrani is a photographer and art director from Vancouver, currently based in Copenhagen. He has been involved in creative entrepreneurship by owning a women’s clothing brand, a multi-brand boutique, and a greeting card company. Armin has worked with clients, including Norse Projects, Barbour, Fredericia, Soho House, Monos Travel, Kinfolk, New York Times and Vogue. He is working as a Senior Art Director at VIPP and running his creative agency, Direction Bureaux, while continuing his photography career. Armin’s debut photo book, Sicily, was released in 2025.
Mario Depicolzuane
Founder of Studio8585 & Creative.Voyage
Mario Depicolzuane is an art director and graphic designer from Croatia. Mario leads his branding and design consultancy, Studio8585. His clients include Audo Copenhagen, Design Hotels, SPACE10, Harvard GSD, Kinfolk, La Cabra, New Mags, Only Way Is Up, and The Poster Club. He served as the art director for Kinfolk magazine for issues Fifty, Fifty-Five, and Fifty-Six. He also hosts the Creative Voyage Podcast, serves as the creative director of the Creative Voyage imprint, and is the co-editor of the branding tome Designing Brands, published by Gestalten.
Selected Work by Armin Tehrani & Mario Depicolzuane
FAQ
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Professionals in any creative field and anyone open to creative exploration and fostering unique visual environments.
Prior mastery of other creative disciplines is an advantage but not a prerequisite.
However, don’t worry if you are not a seasoned creative. This workshop is conceptualized as a step by step process that will give you insights into art direction, no matter your skill level.
We welcome creators with diverse approaches, experiences, ages, genders, cultural and racial backgrounds, and interests.
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No. This is predominantly a live online workshop that will happen during specific times. If you can’t attend one, we will record the sessions, but participation is the main point. Almost half of the sessions will involve discussion and answering participants’ questions.
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Three Live Group Zoom Sessions consisting of lectures and Q&A discussions.
Final 1:1 Consultation Call, 30-minutes, either with Armin or Mario (15 spots per instructor, first-come, first-served basis).
Workshop Exercises.
Complete recordings of the three sessions.
2-month access to the private community group hosted on Circle.
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A computer with a decent internet connection and presentation program (InDesign, Keynote, Google Slides...).
A notebook for sketching and writing.
Account for three hours of uninterrupted, free time per week for the live Zoom lectures, 90–120 minutes per week for the exercises, and 30 minutes for the 1:1 consulting call.
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545 EUR Early Bird Tuition (Until October 3) / 725 EUR Full Workshop Tuition
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Yes, but instead of using our website, the workshop can be purchased based on a custom invoice and paid via wire transfer payment.
If you are interested in a custom business/VAT invoice, please send complete participant and company details (including VAT-ID if applicable) to hello@creative.voyage, and we’ll get back to you shortly.
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Yes. We offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Our mission with this workshop is to provide you with a lot of value and support. If you go through the complete workshop and feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth, we’ll issue a full refund immediately, no questions asked.
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Within 48 hours of signing up, you’ll receive a welcome email along with an onboarding questionnaire. Five days before the first session, you’ll get another email with Zoom access details, instructions for joining our community and guidance on how to book your 1:1 call.
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If you have any questions, email us at hello@creative.voyage
EXPERIENCE FROM OUR ALUMNI
Our creative workshops have been attended by over 200 individuals from 5 continents and 25+ countries, including full-time employees (agency and in-house), freelancers, creative business owners, entrepreneurs and students.
Participants are working in diverse fields, including design (product, graphic, digital…), photography, creative/art direction, architecture, marketing, interiors, research, UX/UI, production, content creation, art, and more.
The common thread is that all our students are looking to grow, learn, collaborate and create.
100% completion & satisfaction rate.
As a young person in the early years of my career, I was really excited to get an inside look at what it means to be an Art Director. Creatively, it helped grow my confidence in my own artistic vision and personal aesthetic. Practically, the workshop tools Armin and Mario shared with us have enormously helped in my current job and my own personal projects.
Jacqueline M. (Canada), Project Consultant
The workshop has helped me dive deep into who I am, embrace my cultural influences to have a unique perspective when creating work, and taught me to have visual intelligence. I was really inspired after the workshop, and my mindset on projects has changed. I am much more aware of how art direction can influence the outcome of a project.
Monde M. (South Africa), Designer
Mario and Armin gave a great foundation about art direction that was clear and refined. They also went in-depth on how this skill set is applied in different creative fields. They were open about their own work experiences, which encouraged me to try new things and experiment. The 1:1 call at the end of the course helped apply it directly to my work.
Ruthie M. (USA), Graphic Designer
Whatever field you are in, if you are looking for guidance from experts, a community of other inspiring creatives, impressive case studies, honest feedback and perhaps a nudge to get going on your ideas, the classes and creative space will be more than worth your time. I have a newfound sense of clarity on my personal creative goals and ways to achieve them.
Preslea J. (Canada), Writer
This workshop helped me understand art direction and allowed me to transition into that role in my current job. I also look at things with a different eye, in the sense that everything I see is now a stored reference. I was working on my first book design as I began this course, and my eye has really evolved thanks to this course. I approached the project with a more holistic view.
Alizée B. (Netherlands), Design & Creative Direction
Mario and Armin are professionals with relevant experience and top clients in their portfolios. In the workshop, they successfully synthesized their diverse knowledge into a comprehensive and actionable course. The workshop helped me understand multiple layers of art direction and how each can be utilized to fulfill creative and business goals.
Marko C. (Sweden), Designer & Art Director
JOIN THE WORKSHOP
on art direction workshop AUTUMN 2025
An intimate online workshop and community
insights into the industry-tested strategies, tactics and tools for good art direction
levelling up your creative work, and yourself, as a creator or a business owner
3× Group 180-min Live Session
30-min 1:1 final consultation call
max. 30 participants