design// Adobe MAX Creativity Conference
Three days of non-stop creative endeavors and constant presentation of innovative breakthroughs from the industry leader, Adobe. In addition to Adobe’s new products and features being rolled out, there were sessions lead by some of the industry’s most gifted creators such as: Aaron Draplin, Elle Luna, Brett Stenson, and Kellie Anderson. A common theme among all talks was that this new technology would forever change the creative process.
One of the many activities that took place at MAX was Photoshop’s 25th anniversary. To celebrate, Adobe searched for the twenty-five leading designers under the age of twenty-five. Among these creative young guns was Freddy Santiago (a Ventura local currently creating graphics for Neff Headwear). Freddy’s style is a beautiful blend of juicy street art, inspired illustration, and clean graphic illustration. I had a chance to catch up with Freddy and he expressed his gratitude toward Adobe for the amazing software they have provided. He appreciated most, the ability to push the field of design further with the new features. He strives to not only push his digital artwork forward but also uses this technology as a structure for creating murals, paintings, and other tangible artwork.
An aspect from the conference that struck me the most was the constant innovation that took place all around. The Community Pavilion served as the hub for all of the vendors from the creative industry. It is there that they are given a platform to display their new offerings. One of the activities that I found amazing was the work from photographer Eric Pare. Eric uses a collection of cameras to create 360-degree video file. Using a combination of the 360 degree cameras and a dark curtain enclosure, using the over 20 cameras, Pare was able to take a photo on every one at once then link them together forming a rotating image with long exposer lighting effects inside.
On the last evening, Adobe hosts a series of “sneaks” in which they reveal the early stages of projects that their engineers are working on. One of theses sneaks was the Faces project. A project that is re-thinking how we use typography in the creative field. Faces provides a skeleton to build the font off of creating endless possibilities for custom fonts. Everything Adobe is doing to improve their software is truly going to change the workflow of the day-to-day creative. In the words of Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, “ We are creators of content that drives innovation and brings magic to the creative field.”
Adobe really out did themselves by taking innovation even as far as the closing bash. Live entertainment included dancers on a huge transparent trampoline suspended above the crowd and performing a choreographed dance that included light and music. All of the food was out of the ordinary including liquid nitrogen frozen popcorn and waffles with ice cream on it. My personal favorite addition to the evening was the wall of donuts for our enjoyment. Adobe MAX is without a doubt the creative dream come true.
For more info on the Max Conference. http://max.adobe.com
