Adobe MAX 2022: Designs galore from artists we love
In-person in Los Angeles and online for free all around the world, the Adobe MAX 2022 conference gathers creatives looking to boost their skills and potential, gain inspiration, and connect with other people working in their industries. We’re celebrating MAX the Adobe Express way with help from eleven designers that exemplify the app’s creativity, freshness, and fun.
Each designer is showcased below with the templates they designed for the conference, as well as personal commentary on their backgrounds as artists and the inspiration for their MAX designs. The Adobe Express team also contributed to the conference collection through social templates to help attendees immortalize their favorite MAX moments.
Check out the MAX template collection
Finally, if you’re attending MAX in-person stop by the Adobe Express booth where you can check out Express, meet the team, AND design your own swag. We’ll have laptops set up for attendees to remix specially designed templates and print them onto tote bags. Check out the tote bag templates below and start thinking about which one you’ll want to walk away with.
See you soon, Los Angeles, Adobe MAX, and everyone joining online or IRL. We can’t wait to share in your creativity. Now, take a look at what our guest designers have to say about their journey as artists and how they’ve woven their own aesthetics into these MAX templates.
Colorful social quotes by Erin Dwi Azmi
Hello, my name is Erin and I am an illustrator from Indonesia. I have loved drawing since I was a child and after I finished my bachelor's degree in visual communication, I decided to become a full-time illustrator.
Most of my works carry the concept of comfort, chill, and relaxation. I draw that feeling of comfort through fragments of my fond memories and I try to present it in my work. I always pull the shapes, and colors to represent the meaning of the message that I want to share.
I try to apply my aesthetic concept by making some of the assets in my work modular. People with happy faces and joyful colors are describing this message itself. This is so that users can customize the message they want to convey using the template that I have created.
Overall, I created a template that sounds like the vibes of festivity that I hope brings more joy and togetherness according to the Adobe Max spirit.
Check out Erin Dwi Azmi’s portfolio
Erin Dwi Azmi’s MAX templates
Conference takeaways by Jessica Maiko Tam
I was born in Nagoya, Japan. I’ve always loved appreciating nature, art, and architecture—and making things from an early age. I feel joy in solving problems in a creative way, the approach is rewarding to me.
After graduating from university, I worked at a design studio. I now have my own studio focusing on branding through enriching creativity. Recently, I started an online design store “momento studio” that produces posters, stickers, and some other products on a made-to-order basis.
I always value the element of surprise that comes from adding a twist to something that’s otherwise familiar to people. Lately, I’ve been especially fond of creating designs that express both newness and nostalgia at the same time.
For my MAX templates, I blended irregularities, imperfectness, the human touch, and warmth. I took this approach to make the templates — which are ultimately digital creations — feel well-balanced with the physical world. For example, I layered in a hand-drawn MAX logo, business, and paper-like to add an analog feel.
While I did incorporate the Creative Cloud gradients and Adobe red, the final templates carry my personal tastes. How the content looks when it’s final, however, is up to the user and how they remix the templates, which will vary from person to person.
Check out Jessica Maiko Tam's portfolio
Jessica Maiko Tam’s MAX templates
Event announcements by Katrina Romulo
Hi! I'm Kat. I'm a freelance brand and graphic designer. I was first introduced to design when I took a student-led class called "Intro to Illustrator and Photoshop" my first semester at Berkeley, and I've been doing it ever since. I'm a self-taught designer (I majored in sustainable environmental design since it was the closest I could come to any design major at Berkeley).
I love using bold colors, fonts, and illustrations to evoke emotion (passion, excitement, love, etc.). I'm a big fan of primary colors and textures — and outlining everything with stroke to emphasize the illustrations.
I used vivid colors and textures in every illustration and added a stroke to each one to really grab people's attention. I would describe my templates as very colorful, exciting, and energetic. I hope that the energy and passion can be seen in each illustration.
Check out Katrina Romulo's portfolio
Katrina Romulo’s MAX templates
Creative inspiration by Victoria Ng
I’m an Asian-Australian multifaceted designer living in Berlin. Passionate about mental health and wellbeing, I currently work as a product designer at Clue BioWink — a menstrual health app.
Art has always been part of my life. From a young age, it was my safe-haven, a way to escape from pain and bring joy into the world. I loved the way the only limitation to art is the one I held against myself. So as long as I can imagine it, the thing can exist. This freedom was priceless.
Later, I went on to study a BA in Visual Communications at UTS followed by a MA in Digital Experience Design at Hyper Island. And to this day, my only drive as a designer is to create experiential and emotional work that can spark new hopes and/or change behaviors. That’s the magic of design.
Constantly experimenting with different mediums, my work is often inspired by reflection and past emotional experiences. Each drawing is crafted from a composition of playful abstract shapes and tied together with black doodle strokes — intrigued by the way these organic and simplistic forms can create a calm and yet cheerful response.
In my Express templates, I’ve carried over those abstract forms and carefully crafted a series of shapes and doodles that can be easily used by others. I hope that the flexibility in my designs will allow others to experience the reason why I fell in love with art
the freedom and limitlessness. There is no right or wrong, so long as it feels right.
Check out Victoria Ng's portfolio
Victoria Ng’s MAX templates
Event schedules by Ansley Kane Oberkofler
My name is Ansley Kane Oberkofler and I was born & raised in Atlanta, but I’m currently living in London doing freelance. I started doing graphic design in middle school when my dad downloaded Photoshop (probably an ancient version lol) on the family desktop computer. My brother and I would spend all day photoshopping our faces onto things, paint brushing over photos, and drawing. I started designing t-shirts and posters and it eventually became a side hustle throughout high school and college.
My design aesthetic is always changing, but a few things have always been true for my designs. They're typically colorful, don't take themselves too seriously, and normally involve aspects of humanity. I'm currently loving ‘50s/’60s/’70s adverts
that comic book, halftone pop-art look. I've been having a ton of fun getting inspiration from old advertisements and comics.
I knew right away I wanted to make some sort of invitation for MAX. I think so many of us live behind screens all day, especially the past couple of years, so getting to be with people in-person lately has been so good for my soul. The templates were my take on a modern and creative twist on the ‘60s dinner party. I included a retro half-tone look in my template over a photo (that can be swapped out and remixed by the user) over a faded, vintage looking poster background. The text is super simple but bright with some scribbles and doodles over it to reflect what a creative party might be like. The final product feels a little retro, casual, and versatile. I hope people will use it to plan some get-togethers and get creative with their hangouts.
Check out Ansley Kane Oberkofler's portfolio
Ansley Kane Oberkofler’s MAX templates
Goal setting graphics by Gabriela Hernandez
Hello! I’m Gabriela, a graphic designer specialized in branding. I’m originally from Venezuela but I’ve been living in Barcelona, Spain, for almost 9 years. My background is in architecture, so I actually started practicing graphic design back in architecture school, over 15 years ago. After I moved to Spain, I crossed paths once again with design, through internships and mentors that guided my new career path. I had to quickly develop my graphic design skills while working for a fashion e-commerce company, armed with a good eye, hard work, and a willingness to learn from everyone around me and from everywhere online. After 5 years working in-house, I took the leap and went freelance, and here I am, partnering with Adobe 2 years later.
My design aesthetic has always been inspired by architecture, art, and other design fields. For my personal work I mostly find inspiration in mid-century design and brutalism. However, when working with clients, I prefer to respect their brand values and to offer a diverse aesthetic approach, always from a contemporary perspective.
The templates I designed for Adobe Express have a bit of the brutalist aesthetic I love, with bold shapes, thick outlines, and a sober color palette. They are straight-forward and at the same time, easy to adapt. I feel like a lot of messages would work well in the templates without any design changes. To me they feel robust, like a good brutalist building.
Check out Gabriela Hernandez's portfolio
Gabriela Hernandez’s MAX templates
Mood boards by Angela Lian
My name is Angela and I'm an artist and designer based in New Milford, CT. I create experiences in branding and web/print design that are playful, bold, and meaningful. My personal artistic practice revolves around identity and movement through video art. My introduction to graphic design began on social media, where I grew fond of visual language and communication. I studied graphic design in college and have since been freelancing nomadically, both abroad and at home.
My current design aesthetic is playful and expressive. My Express templates embody joyful movement. The design elements sway like fluid and represent how free I like to feel when I design. My final templates are waiting to be played with. They are vibrant and whimsical, but also functional. Grids are a visual tool that offers so much possibility and I want to share that.
Check out Angela Lian's portfolio
Angela Lian’s MAX templates
Colorful graphics for small businesses by Kajal Khodaskar
Hi there! My name’s Kajal (she/her) and I’m a freelance letterer, illustrator, and muralist who is an engineer by day and artist by night . I was born in India and raised for the second half of my childhood in the UAE (special shout-out to my fellow third-culture kids). After high school, I migrated to Naarm (Melbourne), Australia to study engineering during which I decided to revisit my passion for art. About 4 years ago during my second year in uni, I discovered the art of lettering and while it’s ironic (considering I've found self-expression through words challenging), I haven't turned back since.
Lettering turned out to be a unique way for me to challenge myself and be bold with self-expression. Existing on an online platform (e.g., Instagram) as an artist/small business owner is daunting but it has allowed me to connect with other like-minded creatives; resulting in a close-knit community of people I am constantly inspired by and in awe of. Coming from a culture where creative pursuits are often discouraged, seeing diverse artists online made me hopeful that I can do cool things too. And that’s when I decided to ‘do the scary thing’ and turn my hobby into a creative career.
My design aesthetic continues to evolve over time because I enjoy experimenting and playing with my imagination as I grow as an artist. I’d describe my current style to be quirky, vibrant, empowering, and playful. My work is inspired by everyday things, feelings, conversations, and topics that I deeply care about. I create art that exudes feelings of joy, belonging, and optimism.
When brainstorming ideas for Adobe Express, I knew I wanted to create assets that would be easy to use, playful, and vibrant. I enjoy creating with colors and shapes and wanted to incorporate Adobe’s gradients into my design to create assets that would be useful for local creators/artists/small businesses.
The assets I designed are simplistic, vibrant, and playful. I’ve created an asset pack that consists of backgrounds, word stickers, and illustrations to provide the user with enough options to play with to create their own templates.
Create with Kajal Khodaskar’s assets
