Adobe and Webby Awards celebrate and honor creators

Adobe and The Webby Awards teamed up to recognize creators at two unique events — the 29th Annual Webby Awards Show and the premiere Webby Creator Weekend that celebrated content creators and influencers.

“Adobe was thrilled to partner with The Webby Awards,” said Hannah Elsakr, VP, New Business Ventures at Adobe. “We were especially honored to recognize Norman Teague, whose design work exemplifies the powerful and responsible use of generative AI to reimagine the creative process. His creative breakthroughs are exactly what we had hoped for when we introduced Firefly — that responsible AI would be a search engine for the imagination to bring genius to life.”

Teague’s work shows that when artists shape the use of technology, that technology can do more than just speed up creation, according to Jesse B. Feister, Executive director, The Webby Group. “It can unlock new forms of storytelling that are more representative, more expansive, and more deeply human.”

One-of-one Webby Awards Trophy Reimagined with Adobe Firefly Boards

Adobe and The Webby Awards tapped industrial designer, creator, and educator Spencer Nugent to reimagine the iconic Webby trophy for the first time in its 29-year history. Nugent appropriately designed Teague’s award trophy for the first-ever Special Achievement Award in Creative AI with Firefly Boards, which, with the power of generative AI, introduces a new way to visualize early concepts. It allows its users to source, organize, refine, and showcase their ideas — all in one place.

“Whenever I start a design project, I like to just go crazy with it, but even though I have twenty years of experience as a designer, I can’t think of everything,” Nugent said. “Being able to have this competent, wonderful assistant in Firefly lets me see things I didn’t consider before — and I think that’s the way I’ve been able to expand on my process.”

Nugent’s design was hand-built by designer Pooria Sohi. Elsakr and Nugent presented the award to Teague, revealing it on-stage during the awards ceremony.

The Webby Creator Weekend presented by Adobe Photoshop

The Webby Creator Weekend was inspired in part by the Webbys’ new Creator Awards category, honoring outstanding content made exclusively for social platforms.

With two days of creative energy and connection, the Creator Weekend brought together more than 500 enthusiastic creators and influencers for immersive product experiences, a bodega-inspired collection of giveaways, and opportunities to connect with other creators and industry leaders. It also included panels with industry leaders and top content creators such as Jules LeBron and Jordan Howlett, a.k.a., “Jordan the Stallion.”

Adobe evangelist Elise Swopes, one of Instagram’s first influencers, led the panel “Inside the Creator Economy: How Leading Brands Are Working with Creators to Tell Stories, Build Community and Beyond.” The panel highlighted the opportunities available to help creators grow their audiences and unlock meaningful partnerships with top brands, all while remaining true to their own brands. Featuring Jared Carneson, Adobe’s head of social media — Lina Renzina, head of creators at Verizon — Rachel Gavrun, director of influencer marketing, Golin — and Mic Kovary, strategic partner manager — top creators, YouTube, they discussed how leading brands, more than ever before, are working with creators to tell their stories and build community.