Adobe MAX Day 2: inspirational keynotes from 4 artists

12 October 2023

Back on the Adobe Max stage, our host Stacy Martinet, Vice President of Marketing Strategy and Communications, hosted the event’s second keynote, featuring 4 artists.

Aaron Draplin, first on stage, granted us with a retrospective on his life and work as a Graphic Designer, encouraging us to “be lethal with [our] process” and to do it all for ourselves. If some felt the speech got a scent of “Western privileges”, Draplin’s intention was mostly to engage people in believing in their talents and “get free, baby”, as he stated.

One must concede Adobe’s panel of speakers truly gathered, on both days, a diversity of profiles, genders, skin colours, cultural backgrounds, etc. It was as delightful as the giant screen displaying a variety of designs during the keynotes and we shall acknowledge Adobe for showcasing such a diversity of talents in a very relaxed and authentic way. From the first day, one could tell this was not your typical Tech event where shapeless hoodies walk next to expensive suits and pointed shoes. Just genuine people talking about content creation. Draplin, who worked for Jack White and Jack Black, cracked a daring joke saying he was about to work with “Jack Pantone 440”. A tad audacious after last year’s fallout between Adobe and Pantone but spirited and very much aligned with the crowd listening.

Second on stage was artist Karen X Cheng whose interesting performance mimicked an addict in a support group, talking about phone addiction, and the damage “likes”, “buzz” and the algorithmic world we live in can do to artists. She arrived on stage in a ripe peach rosy-coloured onesie and sat on a foldable plastic chair. One couldn’t miss the parallel with the orange jumpsuit worn in American prisons and designed to make escape more difficult. The silky onesie was considerably more elegant though.

Cheng shared her experience of being torn between the compulsion to see her work by a higher and higher number of people on Social Media and the disappointment when a post a flop. She intended to open the audience’s eyes regarding the true nature of “The algorithm”, designed to show us more of what we pay attention to, which is not necessarily what we like. She also shared her flop mantras and encouraged us to be proud of our own.

Next was Walker Noble who shared the tale of his ascension as a recognized artist, after leading a frustrated professional life in another line of work, and how he had to prepare and work hard for opportunities to finally come. His message was to “get rid of self-doubts” and keep thinking “Why not me?”

The final speaker was Oak Felder, a music producer from L.A who showed us the making of a hit and how music touches hearts with a magical connection between people and artists.

Overall, the tone was set on artists ‘empowerment, meritocracy after hard work, and affirming that creation is firstly a need for the artist as Walker Noble said “I needed this for myself”, encouraging talents of all kinds to go beyond society and self-imposed limitations.