Adobe launches Love the Journey with Little Simz to inspire young people to turn their creative passions into creative pursuits
At Adobe, we believe creativity is the great enabler and it’s within all of us. It has the power to unlock imagination, inspiration, and emotion, and it involves inventing, experimenting, expressing, taking risks, breaking rules, and having fun. We also believe creativity needs to be nurtured in our formative years, in places we are most influenced, including home and at school.
Our Love the Journey research, released today, explores the barriers stopping people from pursuing creative careers. It found that 66 percent of UK students and young people (aged 16-24) are concerned about pursuing a creative career since the pandemic. Additionally, although 75 percent want to pursue a career in the creative industry they don’t know where to begin.
We also examined what deterred students from turning their creative passions into creative pursuits, with over half (54 percent) saying they were influenced by others within their networks; 40 percent citing their parents and 38 percent putting this down to self-doubt. As well, our research found the barriers were heightened for people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, with almost two-thirds of BAME students struggling to find inspirational creative role models within the industry.
A love letter, by Little Simz
This is why we’re excited to launch Love the Journey, our latest campaign with award-winning UK rapper, actor and role model, Little Simz, to showcase to today’s generation that creativity belongs to everyone. In her film, Simz pens a heart-warming love letter to her mother, her number one fan, thanking her for nurturing her, being part of her journey and giving her the tools to reach her dreams. Check it out here:
“Without my mother’s encouragement I wouldn’t have been able to use music, acting and fashion to express myself and be where I am today.”
Little Simz, Rapper, Actor
From our research we know that support from those closest to the younger generation can help them overcome concerns they may be having when considering a creative career and better take on challenges that may deter them. In fact, 62 percent of students we surveyed said that parental support gave them more confidence and motivation in the path they were choosing.
“As an industry and society, greater representation of minority groups is needed to showcase the next generation of talent that they can make it, they can be who they aspire to be and love what they do every day. I hope that through my work with Adobe I can help inspire others to pursue their passions and encourage parents, carers, siblings and teachers to help young people overcome any issues of self-doubt and move past obstacles that can often scare them.”
Little Simz
Championing creative talent across the UK
For Love the Journey we’ve also teamed up with a host of diverse and inspiring talent from the UK creative scene to further empower the future generation of creators, and help them learn from others including Derin Adetosoye, Doaly and Samuel Douek as well as many more.
YouTube content creator and presenter for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the world’s leading all-electric motorsport championship, Derin Adetosoye was originally encouraged to focus on academic subjects at school. Her story shows how opportunities can appear unexpectedly, and why it’s important to be flexible and have self-belief.
Doaly, a graphic designer and illustrator based in Birmingham, fell in love with cartoons and Disney at an early age. Working as a web designer he continued his passion for illustration creating movie posters alongside his day job – a Hollywood studio then got in touch with a commission, turning his dream into a reality.
Music video director, Samuel Douek, who has worked with the likes of Little Mix and David Guetta, decided to give up seven years of higher education studying architecture to pursue filmmaking. His parents were always supportive of his decisions, even if they didn’t agree with them at first, and his story brings to life how to tackle such challenges to fulfil your passion.
Our mission has always been to create products that empower people to change the world and to be successful, we need to operate in a society where everyone is empowered. That’s what Love the Journey is all about – championing peoples’ stories and supporting others so they can live their creative dreams.
We’d love to hear from you about the creative path you’ve taken. You can do this by sharing your story using #LoveThe Journey on the social channel of your choice! And check out Love the Journey to hear more from Derin, Doaly and Samuel. There’s also a quiz to help you match your skills to a creative career.
More about the campaign: adobe.com/go/lovethejourney