Adobe
MAX the Creativity Conference
Adobe MAX has been the most challenging and rewarding project of my career. Some see it as the world’s biggest creativity conference, but for me it’s much more—a yearly celebration of creativity, learning, and community. It is also one of the most complex undertakings imaginable: massive identity systems, two days of keynotes, hundreds of sessions and meetings, documentary films, inspirational openers, product launches, and an equally ambitious online experience. Every detail—from marketing and performance campaigns to animated content, community activations, and launches of our Creative Cloud apps—has to come together seamlessly to inspire the world’s best creatives and equip them with the next set of tools to conquer their craft.
It’s intimidating, exhausting, and exhilarating all at once. What makes it extraordinary is not just the scale but the caliber of talent we’ve brought to the stage—visionaries like Quentin Tarantino, Tilda Swinton, José Andrés, Shepard Fairey, Stanley Tucci, Common, Baz Luhrmann, Ron Howard, Albert Watson, and Jon Landau with the first sneak peek of Avatar. Each year, MAX becomes a global showcase of creativity at its highest level, connecting our community with icons and innovators while celebrating the boundless possibilities of imagination.
Main Stage
Every year at MAX is a completely new experience—that’s what our community expects. We’ve continually pushed the boundaries of technology and storytelling on the keynote stage, thanks to incredible partners like PIX Productions, Nicole Williams, and Joe Buckwald, true masters of the mainstage. Together, we’ve delivered industry firsts: the first to projection-map an entire theater, the first to design movable projection-mapped objects (“Perioctoids”), and the first to bring this kind of innovation to life at such a massive scale.
But it’s never just about the tech or design—it’s the content that makes the keynote unforgettable. Each year we reveal new tools, share breakthrough stories, and inspire our creative community at the highest level. The examples below, drawn from our extensive archive, offer just a glimpse of the scale, ambition, and creativity that make Adobe MAX an experience unlike any other.
MAX Event Identity Systems
Each year at MAX we build a completely new identity system. From the beginning, I’ve made it a priority to put our creative community at the center—both as collaborators and as inspiration—celebrating their uniqueness while letting the Adobe brand serve as the catalyst for expression. Every year brings a new set of creatives and a fresh canvas to explore craft. People often ask, “How are you going to top this next year?” But for me, it has never been about outdoing the past—it’s about making each year distinct, authentic, and meaningful.
That distinctiveness comes from craft, curation, and foresight—choosing the right voices to partner with, looking beyond current trends, and finding those pushing creative boundaries globally. These identity systems are complex, but the process of creation is everything. Over my 22 years leading MAX, some of the most rewarding moments have come from experimenting and playing alongside our community—whether building physical installations in Adobe’s basement or streaming 24 hours of live creativity in Times Square. Our events and identities have always been, and continue to be, shaped and elevated by the creative community itself.
