Adobe Max was absolutely bonkers. 15,000 designers, programmers, animators and developers filed into the Los Angeles Convention Center for a 3-day mind melting expo of all things creative! I had high hopes for my first Max, but this thing was even better than anticipated. Seeing what Adobe has done technologically for the most recent Creative Cloud update and what they've got planned for the future was equal parts shocking and inspiring.
I went to a ton of events, speakers and workshops over the conference, but here's a little run down of a few that stood out:
Speakers
Keynotes
The Adobe team came out swinging showing everyone new products and feature improvements to the creative suite. The biggest highlight for me was the intro of Illustrator on the iPad Pro, check it out! You can watch the whole Keynote here.
The second keynote featured a STACKED lineup. Get a load of this: M. Night Shyamalan, David LaChapelle, Shantell Martin, Takashi Murakami, Billie Eilish, oh and a little fella named Dave Grohl. Enough said, do yourself a favor and go watch the Keynote here!
Tap Shoes, Treadmills and Tacos: Amping up Your In-House Design
This one was also high on my list because...Taco Bell. The speaker was Christopher Ayres, Executive Creative Director at Taco Bell. There ads always have me hooked and had to hear what he had to say. He didn't disappoint. He started off by launching Taco Bell gift cards into the crowd, can't go wrong there. His story was very interesting and offered up a lot of insight in how to keep your branding fresh when working in an in-house agency.
Living, Breathing Identities with Paula Scher
I didn't know who Paula was before this talk, but damn was she impressive. Walked us through her amazing career branding some of the biggest companies in the world. She taught us the importance of well thought out design systems that you can leave company's in-house teams with so they don't totally butcher the brand in their future pieces haha. My favorite work of her's is the creative she put out every year for New York's public theaters, like Shakespeare in the Park. Here's a little bio of Paula, dive in.
This Could Be Fun with Tad Carpenter
Tad has been a big inspiration of mine for a while. His use of colors and simple shapes to create awesome brand identities is something I bring into my work on the daily. Tad is the owner and designer behind Carpenter Collective. He emphasized the importance of keeping your work fun and drawing inspiration from the things in your life that make you smile. He's spot on, designers have the best job in the world, we get to draw and get paid for it! He was a super cool dude and took time to say hi everyone before he hit the road. Dive into his IG and check out the work of this illustration ninja.
Workshops
Advanced Techniques for Logo Design
I had my eyes on this one from the get go. Branding is one of my favorite parts about being a designer and I'm always looking to keep my skills as fresh as possible for all of you. I got some new skills up my sleeve from this one, stay tuned!
Lettering Design Master Class
Typography is a huge part of all aspects of my design work. I wanted to make sure to get into a workshop that helped perfect this craft. I got to work with Martina Flor, a stud typographer and artist from Berlin. She showed us her process and how to think about letterforms and what you want them to translate to the end viewer. Super insightful and interesting stuff. Check out her site here.
Wow, that was a long one. Ok guys, moral of the story...go to Max next year if you can dig up the shekels for it. It's super worth it. Oh yea, they also rented out the entire Staples Center (yup concession stands and booze included) and Vampire Weekend rocked it out for the Max crowd.
Until next time, thanks amigos!
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