Introducing the 2018-2019 Adobe Creative Residents

At Adobe, we empower artists to create with impact and foster creativity in the community. One of my favorite programs at Adobe is the Creative Residency, which helps us do both. Through the program , we invest in talented and driven individuals at a precarious time in their careers when they are still trying to find their creative voice and build confidence in their vision. Our goal is to give our residents the time and space to work on a personal project that will serve as the foundation for their career, and connect them with mentors they can reach out to at any point. They can access Adobe executives, product managers, customers, sneak peeks into what’s cooking in our labs, and play with the latest and greatest innovation from Adobe. Since they don’t need to worry about finances for a year, they can create with absolute freedom. In turn, they model for the design community what it takes to turn an artistic passion into a creative career. By giving hackathons, workshops, and speeches, engaging with the community through social media, live streams, and tutorials, and much more, they leverage our reach to promote their brand and work.

Last year, we had six incredible Creative Residents — Jessica Bellamy, graphic and information designer; Rosa Kammermeier, hand letterer and sign painter; Chelsea Burton, illustrator and boardsmith; Julia Nimke and Aundre Larrow, photographers and storytellers; and Natalie Lew, experience designer. I remember how exciting it was meeting the six of them when they started the residency. A year after, at their graduation, it was thrilling to see what they had each accomplished. In some cases, as they met with designers and others, they pivoted their ideas as they perfected their creative voice or augmented their creativity. It was also a thrill to see how we had touched six lives in a such a meaningful way and how the residents, in turn, had impacted the broader creative community throughout the year.

This year I’m delighted that we are expanding the program to seven new residents – and we are including the United Kingdom. We have four residents from the United States, two from Germany, and one from the UK.

Each of the seven 2018-19 Creative Residents represents what makes creativity our mission. As with each class, this year’s residents will push themselves artistically and personally, while breaking down their process for us all. Join us in following and supporting their journeys this year.

Here is a little information about our incredible new 2018-2019 Creative Residents:

A graphic designer and photographer based in Dallas, Texas, Temi Coker is exploring the endless possibilities of merging design and photography to create pleasing and thought-provoking visuals for industries including fashion, music, and sports. He’s using his residency to explore different techniques in his artwork, document his process, and make an online hub where creatives can learn how to create amazing artwork and grow in their craft. Temi is developing his design skills and challenging himself to learn how to make visual art using mobile devices. His ultimate career goal is to work as a creative director for multiple brands.

An illustrator from Portland, Oregon, Anna Daviscourt is using her residency to blend her love of whimsical design and storytelling to create her own children’s book — “Scaredy Cat.” The story explores the relationship between two dynamic siblings as they learn that fear of the unknown should never hold them back. Challenging herself to grow as both an author and artist, she’s sharing each step of her journey as she writes, illustrates, and pursues publication of her book. Anna aspires to launch her freelance illustration career and is excited to have a positive impact on the world by speaking to future generations.

A New York City -based photographer with a passion for food and still-life photography, Aaron Bernstein is spending his residency launching an online culinary publication that focuses on the cultural influence of food. With the city as his playground, he’s using food to explore the streets, creating photographs and video content that reflect his experiences. He’s also hosting a Saturday dinner series and capturing the experiences through portrait photography and video. Aaron is working to establish a strong online presence to mirror the traditional role that food plays in bringing people together in a modern way. Post-residency, he intends to continue this project to further evolve his unique viewpoint on food and food culture.

A UX/VX designer from St. Louis, Missouri, Andrea Hock uses vector graphics and photography to create impactful interfaces. During her residency, she’s focusing on automation and how Internet-connected objects can improve the human experience. Her project involves conducting research and creating a series of designs related to the Internet of Things, while addressing issues like security and data privacy. As Andrea shares her process and design practices, she aims to excite others about experience design and its larger role in our society and culture. In the future, she’d like to collaborate with brands that impact people’s lives in meaningful ways.

Photography by Camilo Brau, 2015

Nadine Kolodziey, a visual artist and illustrator based in Germany, combines analog and digital materials to create work that’s manipulated and transformed into walkable environments. Her work is dedicated to the field of visual research, and her residency project, “The undrawn drawing,” is an expedition of illustrative research. It involves touring through Germany and inviting the community to explore the digital and analog possibilities of illustration, and to push the boundaries of what we know as drawing. Nadine is extending her walkable installations with playful virtual and digital experiences.

Co-founder of the United Kingdom based creative studio ATYPICAL, Isabel Lea works at the intersection of typography, design, and art direction to visualize language, culture, and identity. For her residency project, she’s exploring how typography-led design can respond to a place, its language, and its cultural identity. She’s developing experimental typefaces and designs that visualize specific ideas, words, and characteristics that sometimes feel untranslatable or unexplainable. Underpinned by social research, Isabel’s work aims to celebrate language and identity in an unconventional way. During her residency year, she’s building on her typography skills and continuing to work with brands interested in cultural design.

Laura Zalenga is a portrait-photographer from Germany who’s always searching for interesting faces, magical places, and special light situations. Her photographs are characterized by a clear visual language and the power of showing raw, honest emotions. For her residency year, she’s using photographs and textual storytelling – and she’s working with video for the first time – to focus on old age and its unique beauty. She wants to show that age is something we all face but still mostly oversee, and that we’re missing opportunities to learn from knowledge gained over decades. Laura’s goals for the year are to show more diversity in her work, create a long-term series, and find an agency to represent her as a freelance photo-artist.

Portraits of Temi Coker, Anna Daviscourt, Aaron Bernstein, and Andrea Hock credited to Sarah Deragon. Portraits of Laura Zalenga and Isabel Lea credited to Norman Posselt. Portrait of Nadine Kolodziey credited to Taio Konishi.