My Adobe MAX Experience
Wecome to my TED Talk (aka my Adobe MAX summary). Whole story right below, and my top 10 takeaways are further down, feel free to skip lol.
The Whole Story
Back in August, I was asked to attend Adobe MAX and do a live stream from the conference. I was so psyched (and scared)! I had a slew of trips coming up with not much time to think or prepare but I couldn’t miss something like this. I was to design anything I wanted, as long as I highlighted a new Adobe feature or two.
Hot off the heels of my trip to Italy and then a bachelorette party, I headed to LA for MAX. To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been to LA or even California (I know I need to get out more). I did a bit of prep work the week before and on the plane but I knew that I would have to hunker down in the hotel and get to work. 6 hours, a smash burger, and 2.5 Jordan Peele movies later, I felt good about my work for the live stream.
Day 01
To begin the first day, everyone headed to the Peacock Theater for the kickoff keynote at 9am. We got to here from Adobe Execs about all the advances they’ve made this past year and their plans going forward. SO much A.I., so much excitement, and so much stress from me while I sat there waiting for my live stream.
After the 2-hour keynote was finished, I headed straight to the Creative Park to find where the heck the Adobe Community booth was for my live. I found the booth in the Graphic Design section with plenty of time to prep for the stream at 12pm. I met my incredible host, Val, and chatted with the team. Being there in-person was much less nerve-racking than I expected. I felt ready.
Then * lights * camera * action*! We were live! I shared the faux brand I designed for a made up client, Impasta, who would sell a healthy but very tasty alternative to pasta. I was very much still in an Italy mood so something noodle related was a must. In the live, I talked about the concept and process behind the brand (I share those details in my next blog post!), the illustrations, the type system, tested out the Recolor tool in Illustrator, AND the new Illustrator mockup tool! The comments were flowing, Val was fielding it all, and I was designing (while answering questions, remembering to smile, making jokes, having a coughing fit (they took my Diet Coke away!), staying on topic, bringing up Adobe features, and trying not to swear). Overall though, I thought it went super well. And after only an hour, the stream was done.
View the Adobe Live Stream here!
With the Adobe Live stream over, I now had two full days to enjoy the conference. First I browsed around the massive Creative Park, which the giant arena that held all the booths and mini stages. I visited booths by Monotype, WeTransfer, Aaron Draplin, so many cool paper/printing vendors. I stumbled on The Futur’s booth while James Martin was speaking (such a cool, smart dude), and won a raffle for a huge discount on a course by The Futur’s / Chris Do.
After enough browsing (and grabbing every snack in sight), I headed off to begin the workshops and talks I had selected. I attended a color and gradient workshop that was just ok (very ehh, but I signed up way too late to all the sessions so all the good ones were gone). Then I attended a talk on brand recognition by Pink Pony Creative which sparked some new ideas. Nearing the end of the day, I grabbed some food and drinks and chatted with fellow designers. I even got to meet up with Milwaukee locals Adam and Rebecca Roob! But finally day 1 was done.
Day 02
Day 2 started with an early talk at 8am about social media strategy based on real data. It was honestly incredibly informative. I took pictures of nearly every slide. Then another 2-hour keynote, but this time, featuring big wig creators in our industry, like Aaron Draplin, Walker Noble, Karen X Cheng, and Oak Felder. All of them equally inspiring and cool as hell. Draplin gave an overview of his incredible career and work, Noble reviewed his daunting journey to success as an artist, Cheng spoke about the ways to navigate social media in a mentally healthy way, and Felder stressed the importance of purpose and emotion in your work.
Next, it was onto more talks and browsing. I attended a talk by DKNG, a stellar design and illustration studio. I know all too well that each speaker is encouraged to incorporate Adobe software tips throughout their sessions, and DKNG did that so well. It was informative, insightful, funny, and downright neat. Then onto another talk by Adam J. Kurtz. I’ve been a fan of his for many years and it was so wonderful to see and hear from him live. His talk walked us through his artistic journey, starting quiet early on (I love those kinds of things). It was so emotional, real, hilarious, and raw, exactly like the work he produces.
Now that all the day’s sessions were done, it was time for Sneaks! It was an hour+ presentation in the Peacock Theater of all the new features and products soon to be released by Adobe. There must’ve been at least 10 different presenters with their own project and each garnered gasps and applause. In that moment, I realize just how hilariously nerdy the whole thing was lol 5,000 people gasping about software 😂. But who cares?? It was so cool. The capabilities of A.I. and human creativity were breathtaking.
Finally onto the MAX Bash. It was basically a giant party with an insane amount of food, bars at every station serving drinks in unexpected containers (my sauv blanc came in a bear shaped honey jar), interaction experiences, food trucks, and to cap it all off, Rev Run performed.
The next morning, waking up not hungover but just extremely tired from the last few days, my back-to-back trips, and jet lag, I skipped one presentation but thankfully made it to Nubia Navarro’s talk about finding your voice and style as a designer. Her work is seriously so cool and unique and it made it even more so to hear her talk about it.
After the last talk, I did a bit more browsing and grabbed any freebie I hadn’t found yet. And finally, it was time to head out. After a whirlwind of a week, I was exhausted, enlightened, and thankful for the opportunity.
Now a few weeks out, here are my top takeaways from the conference.
My Top Ten MAX Takeaways
A.I. is the here to stay
Sure, A.I. can be daunting and yeah..it might take over the world, but it’s not going anywhere and at least for now, it’s best utilized when paired with human creativity and innovation. Start with your original ideas and let A.I. do the time-consuming stuff (if you’re a robot, ignore that last sentence).
Dont’ skimp on discovery
The more time and thought you put into project research and discovery, the better the outcome of the project. Designer James Martin said at MAX that he spends 75% of the project on discovery alone. While that’s not exactly my allotment, the more experience I gain, the more important discovery becomes to me.
A.I. composites can be a great option for product photography.
Product photography is freaking tough. If that’s not an option, you can always create mockups (as truthful as possible) and then use A.I. to generate the surroundings.
Stop using so many hashtags.
I attended Andy Lambert’s social media talk and there were SO many great takeaways. Like surprisingly Facebook gets the best reach, TikTok and LinkedIn are great for engagement, best times to post (weekdays between 9am-12pm), and seriously so much more, but the simple one I can use right now is that hashtags won’t significantly change your reach anymore. In fact, posts with 3-5 hashtags, as opposed to 30, will perform better.
One for you, one for the algorithm.
The dreaded algorithm. Director and content creator, Karen X Cheng, offered insights on her necessary struggle with social media and its influence on our mindset. You love something, post it and it flops. Formulaic, algorithm posts do well. Sigh. When you can’t win em all, settle on one post for you and your passions, and one for the good ol’ algorithm.
Stack small projects, to rival the big shit.
Just because you’re not doing work for Nike or designing the next hit project on Brand New doesn’t mean you’re not making great work and getting value. Over time, enough well-made small projects can rival the big guys. A tidbit from Aaron Draplin.
Why not me?
Walker Noble, artist and studio co-founder, spoke about his career’s journey. Starting as a creative and artist, he came upon a seemingly impossible opportunity. After so many trials, research, late night calls, and pure ingenuity, he made it work. Upon the success and later reflection (and probably some imposter syndrome), continued to empower himself with the simple question, ‘Why not me?’.
In high-end illustrations, consistency matters.
I got to see the pros of DKNG speak about their recent works, their process, insights, and useful tools in Illustrator. They’re like kings of detailed vector illustrations. One point they stressed, which I realize more and more along my growth as an illustrator, is when creating high-end, professional illustrations, keep the details consistency matters. If you round the corners, keep em rounded. If you’re using a 2pt line weight, keep it 2pts. If you add shading, keep the light source consistent. It matters.
“Personal work is the opportunity to be yourself as you see yourself.” - Adam J. Kurtz
One of my favorite talks/events of the week was seeing Adam J. Kurtz speak. He’s so wonderful, real, and special. He took us through nearly his whole personal creative journey. It was so vulnerable and authentic. He’s known for his emotional, often existential personal work. As creatives we’re so trained to work for the client and their needs, and in our confusing world, it’s easy to lose ourselves. Adam stressed that personal work is the opportunity to be yourself as you see yourself.
“Tell your story, create your own rules, try different styles, and stay true to your values.” - Nubia Navarro
On a similar note to the last topic, we can easily lose our own voice as creatives when creating for others. If/when you feel the need to break away or create for yourself, consider your own voice and point of view. Tell your story, create your own rules, try different styles, and stay true to you.
The End.