Production artist

A production artist is a technical and often considered an entry level job 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. It's often assumed to be a graphic designer or art director in training position, similar to an apprenticeship. Production artists work closely with the designer and art director to execute the design. What distinguishes "production art" from design is the lack of opportunities to utilize creativity and design training in the work involved. Although the position may be treated as low-skilled labor, 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 pages and CD-ROMs. There have since been no standard skill requirements for a production artist other than a working knowledge in using the standard 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.

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.

Production assistant is a similar position in the film industry.