Adobe and OFFF Academy Launch Creative Mentorship to Empower Next Generation of Young Creatives

For aspiring young creatives, the past few months have been particularly challenging. Young people often lack the community support and professional resources to realise their creative potential, but global lockdown restrictions have, sadly, served to further limit the pursuit of their passion.

However, if fuelled by the right technology and with expert guidance, young creatives can flourish during these difficult times. We believe creativity isn’t cancelled. In fact, now is the perfect time for it to shine.

Championing ‘Creativity for All’

Together with OFFF Academy, Adobe has launched a mentorship programme to empower talented young individuals – regardless of their background, qualifications, or level of experience – by unlocking and unleashing their creative superpowers.

The 2020/21 Creative Mentorship by OFFF Academy and powered by Adobe will enable young creatives aged under 30 from across Europe to spend seven months working with an established personal mentor, who will provide expert counsel and inspiration to help bring the candidates’ personal creative projects to life.

The programme offers six exclusive mentorships to develop six distinguished creative skills: Art Direction, 3D, Interaction Design, Motion, Video, and Photography. During their seven–month mentorship, the successful candidates will benefit from dedicated online sessions and email support with their mentors – to help inspire, nurture, and create their own personal creative passion projects.

“This mentorship is true to the idea of creative liberty,” says one of last year’s mentees Vlad Dultsev, an aspiring 3D artist from Moscow whose creative project explored the effects of urban architecture on a city’s digital portrait. “Throughout the mentorship, you’re actively encouraged to express your creative voice and share it with people with your own distinctive style.”

As part of the mentorship, Adobe will fund a trip to each creative mentor’s city, meaning each candidate can visit their mentor’s studio, gain priceless first-hand experience, and truly immerse themselves in a creative environment. Adobe will also fly each mentee to Barcelona to present their creation onstage at OFFF 2021.

To enter, applicants can share either a high-level brief, early sketches, or an inspiration artboard that conveys the creative concept they’d like to develop. The six successful candidates will then be selected by Adobe, OFFF Academy, and each respective creative mentor.

Supporting the Future of Creativity

Adobe is committed to supporting the creative community and empowering the next generation of creators through initiatives such as the Adobe Creative Residency, its Creative Residency Community Fund, and now the Creative Mentorship programme.

And, in its pursuit of supporting and connecting the wider creative community, Adobe Live – a series of daily livestreams with artists and creatives from across Europe – represents an incredible opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together and share ideas, get inspired, and above all, celebrate creativity.

“If this period has taught us anything, it’s that creativity needs its boundaries, limits, and constraints lifted so that everyone – of all experience levels and from all backgrounds – can flourish,” says Simon Morris, Digital Media Marketing, Adobe EMEA. “That’s why ‘Creativity for All’ is so important to Adobe, and why the OFFF Creative Mentorship represents a vital opportunity to empower passionate young people and help usher in a new generation of inspired creative minds.”

“Given the current backdrop, it’s incredibly important we show young people that creativity can still thrive, and that there’s support and opportunity available to help them develop their passion,” says Nathalie Koutia, Communications Director at OFFF and OFFF Academy Project Manager. “The Creative Mentorship with Adobe has always played a vital role in connecting and nurturing young creative minds, and recent times have only served to underline the importance of this pursuit.”

Meet Your Mentors

Apply to 2020/21 Creative Mentorship programme: http://www.offf.academy

About Adobe
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.