What does a Storyboard Artist do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A storyboard artist specializes in creating and designing storyboards to visualize scripts for film, TV, advertising, and animation production. They utilize their talents in sketching and storytelling to help the production process run smoothly and accurately. A storyboard artist's responsibilities revolve around coordinating with the production team, collaborating with directors and writers, conceptualizing imagery, and conducting revisions and edits as needed. Furthermore, as a storyboard artist, it is essential to adhere to the production's deadlines and goals.

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Storyboard artist responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real storyboard artist resumes:

  • Lead a team of artists to create the art and animation for motion comics aspects of the show.
  • Introduce electronic publishing in order to bring print production in-house.
  • Proofread and approve completed pages and convert to PDF files for uploading to the printing company FTP site.
  • Page layout for scientific journals using QuarkXPress.
  • Print InDesign ad to PDF for proofing to client.
  • Accumulate knowledge for the deadline filing system and typesetting computers.
  • Update and maintain files and systems on MacIntosh and PC platforms.
  • Perform layout and paste-up of all sections of the daily newspaper.
  • Page assembler with particular expertise in PDF and TIFFIT work flows.
  • Design and coordinate all company sales PowerPoint presentations for worldwide audiences.
  • Create and design posters, newsletters, invitations, calendars and name badges.
  • Provide training to employees for working within a Macintosh environment with applicable graphics software.
  • proof reader, ads, publicity, catalogs, photo typeset, logo design.
  • Code text files and design book pages according to in-house style sheets for client approval.
  • Create layout concepts for posters, video boxes, DVD covers and catalogs in fast-pace deadline-driven environment.

Storyboard artist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 45% of Storyboard Artists are proficient in Animation, Adobe Photoshop, and Fine Arts. They’re also known for soft skills such as Artistic talent, Communication skills, and Computer skills.

We break down the percentage of Storyboard Artists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Animation, 45%

    Designed planetarium backgrounds and improved storyboards provided by director for a 2D animation.

  • Adobe Photoshop, 7%

    Created visual effects to be used in final film sequence in Adobe Photoshop.

  • Fine Arts, 7%

    Involved in the construction and fine arts business for many years through employment, ownership and family.

  • Feature Film, 5%

    Draw and paint original storyboards for feature film.

  • Storyboard Pro, 4%

    Illustrated in Photoshop & Storyboard Pro.!

  • Sketch, 3%

    Received packages and signed vendors in and out Artist(Freelance) Present I sketch portrait drawings upon request.

Common skills that a storyboard artist uses to do their job include "animation," "adobe photoshop," and "fine arts." You can find details on the most important storyboard artist responsibilities below.

Artistic talent. The most essential soft skill for a storyboard artist to carry out their responsibilities is artistic talent. This skill is important for the role because "animators and artists should have artistic ability and a good understanding of color, texture, and light." Additionally, a storyboard artist resume shows how their duties depend on artistic talent: "recruit and maintain contact with talent for community annual fine arts festival. "

Computer skills. storyboard artists are also known for computer skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to storyboard artist responsibilities, because "many special effects artists and animators use computer programs or write programming code to do most of their work." A storyboard artist resume example shows how computer skills is used in the workplace: "developed stylized drawings, cell clean up and scanned cells into computer for testing the animation timing. "

Time-management skills. storyboard artist responsibilities often require "time-management skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "the workdays required by most studio and game design companies can be long, particularly when there are tight deadlines." This resume example shows what storyboard artists do with time-management skills on a typical day: "storyboarded motion graphics video project from rough boards to finals illustrated production-ready assets and delivered them according to deadline"

Creativity. Another crucial skill for a storyboard artist to carry out their responsibilities is "creativity." A big part of what storyboard artists relies on this skill, since "artists and animators must be able to think creatively to develop original ideas and make them come to life." How this skill relates to storyboard artist duties can be seen in an example from a storyboard artist resume snippet: "designed and animated two 10-second motion graphics ads for issa rae productions color creative patreon campaign. "

Most common storyboard artist skills

The three companies that hire the most storyboard artists are:

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Compare different storyboard artists

Storyboard artist vs. Designer

A designer is someone who creates a master plan of the look or workings of something before it will be made. It could be tangible or intangible objects, products, procedures, laws, events, games, graphics, services, and even experiences. Designers are creative thinkers with a great eye to configure the skeletal and structural properties of the targeted output. They work in several fields, such as fashion, architecture, web graphics, and user experience. In spite of the variety of professionals in the design industry, all of them are artistic, passionate, inspiring, and emotionally connected to their projects and brands.

The annual salary of designers is $23,706 lower than the average salary of storyboard artists.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between storyboard artists and designers are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like adobe photoshop, fine arts, and sketch.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, storyboard artist responsibilities require skills like "animation," "feature film," "storyboard pro," and "camera angles." Meanwhile a typical designer has skills in areas such as "customer service," "css," "html," and "powerpoint." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Designers tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $87,754. In contrast, storyboard artists make the biggest average salary, $127,446, in the finance industry.On average, designers reach similar levels of education than storyboard artists. Designers are 2.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Storyboard artist vs. Visual merchandiser

A visual merchandiser is responsible for arranging product displays at retail outlets, attracting customers to purchase the items. Visual merchandisers should be updated with the latest trends in the market to prioritize retail displays and floor plans. They must also be knowledgeable on product information to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. Visual merchandisers should be creative in setting up the uniformity of the store's visuals within the budget goals. The designs must be appealing enough to drive the customers around the premises, potentially generating revenues and increasing profitability.

Visual merchandiser positions earn lower pay than storyboard artist roles. They earn a $52,016 lower salary than storyboard artists per year.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real storyboard artist resumes. While storyboard artist responsibilities can utilize skills like "animation," "adobe photoshop," "fine arts," and "feature film," visual merchandisers use skills like "customer service," "ladders," "sales floor," and "store management."

Visual merchandisers earn a lower average salary than storyboard artists. But visual merchandisers earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $37,869. Additionally, storyboard artists earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $127,446 annually.In general, visual merchandisers achieve similar levels of education than storyboard artists. They're 2.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Storyboard artist vs. Associate designer

An Associate Designer helps in developing sketches on paper and in graphic design software. They usually are supervised by the junior staff and interns.

On average scale, associate designers bring in lower salaries than storyboard artists. In fact, they earn a $33,283 lower salary per year.By looking over several storyboard artists and associate designers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "adobe photoshop," "fine arts," and "sketch." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from storyboard artist resumes include skills like "animation," "feature film," "storyboard pro," and "camera angles," whereas an associate designer is more likely to list skills in "cad," "customer service," "design projects," and "powerpoint. "

Associate designers make a very good living in the retail industry with an average annual salary of $61,366. On the other hand, storyboard artists are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $127,446.When it comes to education, associate designers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to storyboard artists. In fact, they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Storyboard artist vs. Visual designer

A visual designer is someone who creates designs for a variety of platforms such as Internet and intranet sites, games, and wearables. The duties of visual designers depend on the specific project or industry in which they are working. Duties include creating user-centered interaction models, working with information technology and business teams to resolve complex issues, and designing logos, icons, and infographics. The qualifications to become a visual designer include possessing strong problem-solving, communication, and negotiation skills and obtaining a bachelor's degree in design.

Visual designers typically earn lower pay than storyboard artists. On average, visual designers earn a $3,558 lower salary per year.While their salaries may vary, storyboard artists and visual designers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "animation," "adobe photoshop," and "fine arts. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between storyboard artists and visual designers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a storyboard artist might have more use for skills like "feature film," "storyboard pro," "camera angles," and "music videos." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of visual designers require skills like "visual design," "ui," "user experience," and "visualization. "

Visual designers enjoy the best pay in the start-up industry, with an average salary of $121,675. For comparison, storyboard artists earn the highest salary in the finance industry.visual designers reach similar levels of education compared to storyboard artists, in general. The difference is that they're 4.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of storyboard artist

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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