9 things we learned at Adobe Creative Meet Up 2017

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Last week, we headed to London’s Oval Space to learn more about the latest game-changing updates to Adobe Creative Cloud at Adobe’s Creative Meet Up. Joined live by thousands of artists and designers from around the world, we watched as Principal Manager of Creative Cloud Evangelism at Adobe, Rufus Deuchler, walked through some of the most exciting news from Adobe MAX, Adobe’s annual creativity conference.

A series of stellar speakers then took to the stage to share their best tips and tricks for making it in the creative industry. Headlined by Nick Knight OBE - one of the world’s most exciting photographers - the event also saw the likes of trailblazing art director Kate Moross and talented print designer Kelly Anna fire up the crowd as they walked through their ground-breaking projects. 

If you couldn't make it, fear not. You can watch what happened at the Meet Up right here.

So what did we learn during this epic evening of creative inspiration? A lot. Here are our top insights from Adobe’s 2017 London Creative Meet Up – and remember, if this inspires you to get creative, you can try a free trial of Creative Cloud over on the Adobe website.

01. Creative Cloud is smarter with Sensei

All of the new features and updates announced at Adobe MAX are powered by Sensei, Adobe’s mind-blowing artificial intelligence and machine learning platform. Addressing the issue of ‘content velocity’ – the industry’s ever-increasing need for more content – Sensei helps designers and creatives go from concept to completion much faster, using the power of advanced technology and deep learning to accelerate the creative process.

“Sensei represents the blending of art and science in our DNA,” Deuchler told the audience in London. One thing’s for sure: this is the future of the creative industry - and we’ll be seeing a lot more of it soon. 

02. Adobe XD is out of beta

Adobe’s revolutionary tool for UI and UX designers is out of beta - and it’ll change your life if you design websites or apps. Letting you easily prototype and wireframe your projects on interactive artboards, Adobe XD is an all-in-one cross-platform solution that delivers the speed, precision and quality you need to go from static comps or wireframes to fully interactive prototypes in minutes. 

03. Lightroom CC is a cloud-based tool

Adobe’s all-new cloud-centric photo service Lightroom CC lets users edit, organise, store and share photos from anywhere. One of its most impressive features – powered by Sensei, of course – automatically applies searchable keywords to your images, without you having to tag them. 

Looking for a brilliant old photo of your dog that you didn’t bother tagging? Or a particular shot from a shoot that you didn’t tag? No problem. Type in your keywords and Sensei will find it. Amazing. 

04. Adobe Live is packed with learning opportunities

Launched on Behance, Adobe LIVE is a live-streaming channel where Behance community members can learn from and inspire each other. “Adobe streams eight hours of creative learning content every day, Tuesday to Thursday,” said Deuchler – and this is pegged to expand to 24/7 programming in 2018.

05. All you need is a business card and a website 

“Everything else you can catch up on later,” explained Kate Moross. She was talking about working for yourself – and explained how this is exactly how she started out in the industry. With clients including Nike, One Direction, Vogue and more - and a host of awards to her name – it’s fair to say the Studio Moross founder seems to know what she’s talking about.

06. Naive is cool

Why? “Being naive gives you advantages, and means you haven’t been affected by trends,” said Moross, who also encouraged the audience to “make ugly stuff”. She explained that by taking time to explore less visibly attractive aesthetics, it’s possible to break down the trends we can find ourselves surrounded by every day – and unleash our true creativity.

07. Always look first

Talented print designer Kelly Anna had practical tips to offer, during her time on stage at the Creative Meet Up. “Look up and focus on your subject,” she advised. “If you do, technique will follow after.”

08. We’re no longer photographers

Celebrated creative Nick Knight provided a fascinating insight into his ongoing debate about photography and image-making. “I take pictures on my phone, broadcast them globally, instantly... I can make them into a 3D sculpture if I want. Let's free ourselves from this idea that we're photographers,” he urged. 

“I had to come up with another name for it, and all I could come up with was ‘image-making’,” he added. “Photography was great, but it isn’t what we’re doing now.”

09. The internet feels like punk felt in the 1970s

If we had to pick one takeaway from Nick’s talk, it would be the importance - and value – of taking a DIY approach to creativity. Thanks to the internet, we don’t need a middleman like a magazine to sell our images or get our names out there anymore. “It feels like we can do it ourselves,” he said. Hear hear.

Inspired? Head over to the Adobe website to download a free trial of Creative Cloud – and start creating right now.

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