MY SOAPBOX
This isn’t going to end well… right?!
ADOBE MAX 2024 - WRAP UP
The conference started out with a bang as flashes of color and movement made their way across the screen. As presenters moved on and off the stage the tone was clearly set for Adobes focus through the conference. Over the past few years the main focus of these conferences have been the power of AI and how it can make your workflow much smoother. So, it wasn’t a surprise that day one of this year’s conference included much of the same agenda. However, it was a surprise at how much conversation revolved around the use of this new tool. In years past, the conversation consisted of new advances around AI, but there has always been this conversation about big picture use of it. There have always been questions. Question like, “Is creativity dead?” Or questions such as “will I have a job on Monday?” It was promising to hear a swath of speakers address these exact questions in this year’s opening keynote. One speaker spoke to the effect that these tools are not met to replace the act of creating, but rather are in place to take some of the strain off to be able to be more effective. There was almost a renewed reverence around the act of creativity. In the age of social media, the name of the game is content creation; and the winners are the ones that can create the most as fast as possible.
In my breakout sessions there was so much conversation around going back to the basics of doing. Aaron Draplin demonstrated a simple manual technique to achieve two perfectly aligned shapes that don’t overlap even by one pixel. He spoke on the importance of maintaining that accuracy in your designs. I enjoy that all of Draplin’s designs start out on paper or in Adobe Fresco. They start out as manual pen strokes that later are converted into vector art. Artist Cey Adams spoke on the importance of working with your hands and how he still makes old school collages with a razor blade and magazines. You may recognize some of his work from album covers and logos for Dave Chappell, Jay-Z, The Notorious Big, and DMX.
It was wonderful to partake in classes about how to do specific techniques or even diving back into tasks that I thought I was good at. It goes to show you are always able to learn something new even if it’s something little. It can be a way to make a task shorter or even just a fresh way of doing something.
It will be interesting to see how the next 5 years develop in the creative space. I genuinely think the entrance of AI in the creative world is dangerous to the overall process. It won’t cut out all jobs but it is definitely going to cut out the middle man. I hope I’m wrong. Not to mention if our clients get their hands on this stuff.
I would hate to see the act of making something begin to get watered down. As sappy as it sounds creativity is sacred to me, even when creating a simple flyer or a sign to direct the flow of people. There’s thought that goes into, and intentionality. Maybe there is still hope in the “hand drawn”. A program was introduced this year showing how you can take simple sketches and scribbles and convert those into an illustration. Maybe that is okay…. There is so much clarity and confidence in a project that comes from sitting and imagining what something can look like. And filling sticky notes with shitty sketches and pages full of descriptive words and phrases that just might come together into something tangible. At this point I consider myself an old school creative. I remember the days of zooming in on individual pixels when masking and compositing. I must admit that it does feel good to hit “select subject” and 99% of the work is done; and fairly accurate I might add.
My Moms Basement
The act of tinkering is not a new concept or action. Everything we know today has derived from varying levels of experimentation. When I was younger, I would tinker with Legos; I would disassemble old VCR’s that I found in junk piles, or the calculator that mom just bought me. The older I grew the more passions would come along that required the very intentional practice of tinkering. First it was building remote controlled airplanes, that unfortunately due to budget constraints never got off the ground. I would research aircraft design and incorporate my findings into my various projects. I found out how to pull the screen off my second-floor bedroom window, where then I would launch my designs into the air to see how they flew. Most of them would plummet directly into ground. Eventually my passion for photography would explode. My mom let me carve out a corner of the basement to act as a little photo studio. It was there that I would teach myself photography. I spent all my time experimenting with various photographic techniques. The rule of thirds, and the idea of foreground, mid-ground, background. I tinkered with various shutter speeds and apertures; and made notes about what looked good and well, what looked “very creative”. We lived along a busy state highway, so I didn’t exactly have friends next door to practice on. Using a mix of shop lamps, old, outdated video lights, and this old weird mannequin I found in a dark corner of the basement I taught myself studio lighting. I would practice, high key, low key, and Rembrandt lighting styles. I would practice backlighting, and front lighting and every lighting in between. My tinker game was on point. Eventually my sister let me photograph her. I began to experiment with different posing techniques. I loved trying new techniques. Every creator needs a studio. A space whether it be a corner of your room, or a small portion of your mom’s basement; a place where experimentation can become intention. It’s a place where weird is excepted, and mistakes are encouraged.
A Letter To My Aunt
This is more difficult than I thought...
This is more difficult than I thought…
July 28th, 2024
Dear So and So,
Thank you for your letter; it was great to hear about Grandpas history in the Army. Dad never really told us much about his past. He always said grandpa had a “desk job”. I love how you and So and So travel with each other. Grace and I went to Chicago back in June for a weekend of site seeing and good eats. Like any Montag vacation it rained on us, but we didn’t let that get us down. A highlight of the trip was frolicking around the airport with Grace. I’ve never not liked the airport. I always make it an experience. I arrive with ample time before my flight, find a good cup of coffee and proceed with hours of people watching. We also visited the Chicago Art Institute. It knocks the pants off the Nelson. That being said, the Nelson is still a wonderful time.
A focus this summer is to not pack my weekends with work and chores. So far, a success. This month I have gone on two personal trips. I find vacations far more relaxing when they have a purpose or a mission. The mission for July is to develop new fishing skills and to venture out into other species. Being a Midwest kid, I feel I have a natural obsession with the large mouth bass. They are both easy and fun to catch but I often find myself growing bored while chasing after them. After watching a series of nature shows on YouTube about trout fishing out in Colorado I was left with an “I can do that” mentality. “It can’t be that hard right?!” I was wrong. I spent two whole days in and around Golden, Colorado chasing the elusive trout. *Not elusive, I am just unexperienced. I returned home after not catching a single fish. A few bites but nothing to show for.
“This is more difficult than I thought…”
Disappointed but not discouraged, I returned home; only to plan a trip to southern Missouri only two weeks later for yet another attempt at catching a trout. Roaring River State Park, being a stocked creek, I thought surely this will yield fish. My goal was to catch one single trout. That is all I need to feel satisfied. I arrived this past Friday July 26th. Check into my hotel and immediately went to bed. My alarm went off the next morning at 5:00 AM. Early bird gets the worm I thought to myself.
I headed off to the state park. The drive alone was a beautiful way to spend the morning! When I arrived at the park, I proceeded to the park store to purchase my trout tag for the day. I along with dozens of other anglers looked eager to get on the water. Tag in hand, I put on my “fly fisher get-up” (waders, net, little backpack, rod and reel, and my ball cap with tag pinned to it) and headed to the water. This is where the story loses excitement. For hours I made big, beautiful casts to no avail. Anglers to my right and left pulled fish after fish out of the water, but for me, nothing. Getting frustrated, I began to ask others, “what are you catchin ‘em on?” One replied, “a little grasshopper lookin thing.” Another replied, “a little white midge; they love it.” I gave a nod and went back to my ballet of casting and waiting. “Here, have one of mine” the midge man said. “I have plenty”
I tied on this newfound lure and tossed it in the water. That was a turning point for my fishing trip. Instead of no reaction like before, now, as the fly hit the water the fish would come up and investigate the lure. The new name of the game is commitment.
I need ONE to commit… At last, I saw a fish come up, open its mouth and suck in my fly. The fight is on. River trout are strong, they spend their days swimming upstream. After a brief tussle with the fish stuck to the end of my line, I finally got it into my net.
Trout are both beautiful and fragile fish. Upon catching one you want to make your interaction with it is as brief and gentle as possible. I quickly removed the hook from the corner of its mouth with a pair of forceps, took a photo, and then returned it back to the water. “Mission success” I murmured to myself.
Eventually I will be back in Colorado for another attempt at catching some trout out that way; maybe I will take some fishing gear when I travel for work, we always have down time in the afternoons and evenings.
Till the next adventure,
