Adobe Creative Jam
So last night I had the pleasure of attending Adobe Creative Jam San Diego.
First off, I loved the venue. 3rd Space was an awesome space, although it was a little toasty due to the unseasonably warm weather we are having. It’s basically a cool club you can join for creative types. It’s designed to get your creative juices flowing, collaborate with fellow artists and just plain hang out and get your work done. I really loved it.
Creative Jam had three guest speakers that gave us some inspiration while a friendly (well, it seemed friendly enough) design competition was going on upstairs. The design theme was the quote “Great is the human who has not lost his childlike heart” from Chinese philosopher Mencius.
The guest speakers were Matt Faulk, CEO of Basic brand agency, photographer Tim Tadder and artist Terri Beth Mitchell. The main themes that I took away from the guest speakers:
Be Human – Make sure you are designing for humans, stay true to yourself and don’t be an ass.
Collaborate – Don’t be afraid to work with other artists, it will always push you and make your work better. Don’t put yourself on an island or you will end up alone and stagnant
Have Fun – It’s okay to keep your sense of humor!
Don’t Be Afraid to Work for Free – Some of your best work comes from the work you do out of passion for the project. If you stay true to your passions, the paying jobs will come.
I was personally inspired by Terri Beth Mitchell. She was so funny and her work in the design competition really showed her sense of humor. It really reassured me that it’s okay to insert your personality into your work. Art doesn’t have to be serious and earnest. It’s okay to be silly and have fun with it. The art is real as long as it is a reflection of who you are.
And there are no boundaries. There is no reason you have to fit in a box. You can be who you are and do what you want. The only limits are what you place on yourself, so don’t limit yourself!
As for the design competition, I really enjoyed seeing the different concepts drawn from the same theme. All were wonderful. You can check out the designs on Behance:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/24837667/San-Diego-Creative-Jam
Overall, it was a great night and I can’t wait for more events like this.
Thanks Adobe!