Adobe’s Creative Collective assembles multidisciplinary experts to analyse and advise on the industry’s big changes

The rate at which the creative industry – and indeed, the wider world around it – is changing is unlike ever before, with new tech, tools and considerations being thrown into the mix at a pace that’s difficult to keep up with. In response, Adobe has unveiled the Adobe Creative Collective, a group of creatives that reflect the industry as we see it today, with both its seniors and fresh faces alike. The aim of the collective, especially with such a broad roster of experience and expertise, is to epitomise imagination, invention and the diversity of creativity. At the service of industry itself, this collective’s role is to assess the contemporary creative climate, taking into account what works, what questions to ask and concerns should be raised, whilst equally looking ahead and negotiating the territory that new technologies and tools are forging. 

The roster itself is foundationally interdisciplinary, with representatives from photography, filmmaking, illustration, emerging technology, education, and design. The collective includes renowned designer Stefan Sagmeister; Tina Roth Eisenberg, founder of CreativeMornings; creative technologist Don Allen Stevenson III; fashion and beauty photographer Lindsay Adler; Tim Tadder, commercial photographer, VFX artist Brandon Baum; Behance founder Scott Belsky; and director Karen X Cheng. That’s as of its launch, however, as Adobe’s Creative Collective looks to continue to expand its membership, staying perpetually in the loop and on top of the industry’s ever-changing terrain. What’s important to the collective is not only its members’ expertise but also that it has a clear, original, decisive perspective – one that’ll serve the community best.

Right now, as one would expect, the conversation focuses on AI, a space that, for some members of the community, serves as their discipline. For others, it’s a point of contention and concern. These conversations will make for essential discourse on the topic and will be foundational in finding the common ground for respectful and responsible creativity that’s emboldened by the new technologies on offer. After all, the collective is built on real-world experience, rather than speculation, due to the natural breadth of its lineup. 

The Creative Collective is, ultimately, at the service of the wider creative community. In real terms, that will mean practical assistance, tips and tricks, as well as talks and inspirational stories. These will take the form of live event sessions, reports and roundtable chats, all at the behest of actionable advice. This is one part of Adobe’s practical outreach to the creative community, alongside programmes such as Adobe Digital Academy, Adobe Creative Apprenticeship, Create Now events, and its Creative Mornings partnerships. For the Creative Collective itself, its first stop is the maiden Creative Collective Summit – a quarterly event that will produce published digests of the conversation – and then we’ll see it together again at the Adobe 99U Conference in June 2026, a one-day festival in NYC. 

Whilst the technology landscape is rapidly evolving, the Creative Collective is a refreshing break in conversation, whereby time and space are explicitly granted to acknowledge and assess the changes we’re facing, and (vitally) to report back to the wider industry. Within this space, the discourse could be defining in how we responsibly and most expressively approach what comes next.