With Adobe being all that in the world of design, I was expecting something pretty impressive at their annual creative conference Adobe MAX. But to be honest, the scale and style of it all was astounding (as was Las Vegas itself). The software giant is currently at its most progressive, with a focus on virtual reality, artificial intelligence and adapting new programs to enhance the current generation of creative people!
I joined 12,000 creatives, including influencers, guests, designers and developers from around the world, for what was the biggest turnout the conference has ever seen. Across the week, there was a huge focus on making things more efficient for designers today (thanks for the hundreds of hacks!), and I was able to attend keynote addresses, with photographer Annie Griffiths, designer Jonathan Adler, actor/director Jon Favreau and even DJ Mark Ronson! While the talks from these leading influencers were super insightful (and have already been covered in detail in the media), what really inspired me were my chats with four perhaps lesser-known graphic designers/ illustrators, which you can find below.
‘Design and creativity have never been so important,’ said Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen as he discussed the new era of art and technology we are now entering, in his opening address. In fitting U-S-A fashion, he closed with a coach-esque call-to-action: ‘Being creative means being brave’.