MAX gets a bold new visual identity

Have you noticed that MAX has a striking new look? We thought you might enjoy a behind-the-scenes peak at how Adobe’s Brand Studio, in collaboration with Play Studio, created a fresh brand expression to reflect the singular energy of the world’s largest Creativity Conference as well as the vibrant creative culture of MAX’s new location in Miami Beach.

“Adobe Brand Studio has a special love for MAX because, as creators, the Studio is the MAX audience,” said executive creative director, Alejandro Chavetta. That’s what makes this project exciting. Creating a new brand expression for an audience that includes top branding experts and leading graphic designers means each detail will be noticed and talked about. This crowd appreciates every nuance of digital language.

If you design brand identities for clients, or you’re an independent creative interested in strengthening your personal brand, check out these sessions:

• How Iconic Brands Use Color to Connect with Customers
• Unseen to Unforgettable: The Power of Personal Branding

Inspired by possibility

“The primary idea behind this year's MAX expression is creative possibility,” said creative director Michael Jarrott. “We wanted a set of artwork that layered different styles together and gave the sense that, in creativity, anything and everything is possible. There are stylistic parameters in place, like a core color palette, to ensure that the artwork feels cohesive across the entire MAX ecosystem, but we followed a process that deliberately allowed for some element of randomness and surprise in the artwork. We wanted part of our process to be meticulous and intentional, and other parts to be entirely exploratory and intuitive. The visual outcome is a set of art that is rhythmic, colorful, and dynamic. Each piece feels one-of-a-kind.”

You’ll catch glimpses of tropical elements in the artwork, inspired by Miami’s natural environment. The vivid color palette is complementary to Adobe’s core palette and at the same time, feels as spirited the city itself.

If the topic of inspiration lights you up, don’t miss sessions like these:

• From Inspiration to Illustration: Believing in the Power of Beauty
• Ideas to Images: A Creative Journey Javier Jaén

From badges to billboards — design at scale

“MAX is a vast and complex system that requires a nuanced understanding of design at scale and brand at scale,” said Chavetta.

Last year, more than 10,000 people experienced Adobe MAX in person. More than 240,000 unique visitors came to the website. MAX social posts and ads were seen by millions. The MAX audience is enormous and includes many of the most design-savvy people in the world. Elements of the MAX visual identity appear on hundreds of surfaces — web design on the site you use to register and schedule sessions, the mobile app and mobile ads you view on small screens, your MAX badge, outdoor signage guiding in-person attendees arriving at the Miami Beach Convention Center, banners in the Creative Park, and gigantic mainstage screens.

In previous years, repurposing a small collection of imagery in ways that worked for this many diverse surfaces could be challenging.

“We have a relatively small team of designers, ten individuals, producing many hundreds of unique assets,” said Jarrott. “We begin our work in March and April and work through the entire summer fielding requests from various stakeholders across the company. Some of our designers even attend MAX and produce assets in real time during the event. It's a tremendous amount of design labor done by a small group of talented individuals.”

Adobe Brand Studio invited Play Studio to collaborate on a new process, exploring how generative AI could change and open up the design process.

Curious about how leading brands are scaling creative content and how new generative AI technology can expand the possibilities?

• Barbie, Hot Wheels & More: Unboxing Content at Scale with Mattel Packaging
• Successfully Scaling Creativity in an AI Wonderland

The creative process of collaboration

“For this year’s MAX visual expression, Adobe Brand Studio pioneered an innovative creative process that blends generative AI with human creative control,” wrote Terri Stone, author of an internal case study about the project.

Creating the new visual identity involved many of the Adobe tools you use every day: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe After Effects. Creative collaboration is often where magic happens and that collaborative energy is present in the design of the process itself, in the orchestration of multiple Adobe tools, and in the balance of keeping focus on human creativity while exploring the possibility of the latest generative AI technology.

“The goal of each key image is to create feeling and rhythm and movement,” says Jarrott. “It’s creative possibility on a canvas.”

To learn about the newest features in Adobe tools, increase your skills, and get a creative refresh, save time in your schedule for Creativity Super Sessions and hands-on labs:

• Creativity Super Session: Motion Design for Graphic Designers
• Pro Illustrator Techniques and New Features for Next-level Designs

Discover endless possibilities with Firefly

“We wanted Firefly to be a key part of the process,” said Jarrott, “but we didn’t want to lose the hand of the creator.” In collaboration with Play Studio, Adobe Brand Studio devised a multi-step design solution that weaves together human creativity and generative AI. The human maintains creative control, ensuring that colors and forms are part of a cohesive vision. Firefly opens doors to places the humans might not have explored otherwise. The final images couldn’t exist without both.

During this year’s MAX you’ll find many opportunities to learn about and discuss the creative possibilities of generative AI. And as always, MAX is powered by human creativity. It’s a palpable energy you can feel when you’re surrounded by creatives like you, finding inspiration all around. We think the new visual identity for MAX captures this feeling.

Discover what’s possible when your favorite creative tools get super-powered and consider human-centered strategies for using this technology:

• Wild Creativity Unlocked: Adobe Firefly Tricks and Treats
• From Dreams to Reality with Generative AI and Creative Suite

Continue this conversation at MAX

As you move through your MAX experience, look around and notice all the iterations of the new design.

From the first spark of inspiration, through planning a project, orchestrating the right tools, and seeing a vision come to life — creativity unites us all. Using imagination to design the world around us is the most human of endeavors and it’s what brings us together every year at MAX — we never get tired of talking about it! So, let’s continue the conversation:

• Interested in sessions on similar topics? Check out the Creativity and Design in Business and Graphic Design and Illustration Tracks.
• Is seeing new work by fellow creatives one of your favorite parts of MAX? Look forward to the new Adobe MAX Creativity Awards. Winners will be featured in the MAX keynote on October 15.
• Excited to connect with fellow MAX attendees? Join the Adobe MAX 2024 Discord and share your thoughts on inspiration, brand identity, Adobe tools, and your conference experience.