Both Canva and Adobe made major announcements this week that will have repercussions for all of us who use Graphic Design software. First of all, Canva bought a small UK company called Serif which makes a suite of tools like Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, and Affinity Publisher. While you might not have heard of them, they are just as good as their Adobe counterparts, they work on Mac and PC, and work on Desktop and iPad. Best of all, they are a standalone purchase instead of Adobe’s never ending (and increasing) subscription fees. Canva says that they will continue the ‘Buy once, use forever’ policy, and you could get the whole studio for $115 right now. As a small freelance graphic designer, you could do just about everything with this kit.
Why it matters: This is a warning shot from Canva over Adobe’s bow. They already make very accessible tools with multiple AI features, and they have a much larger user base. Adobe is still the preferred toolset for professionals and they have an incredible research pipeline, but they roll out new features slowly. While it’s unclear how Serif will be incorporated, it is very clear that Canva is gunning for some of Adobe’s ‘Pro user’ market share. Check it out . For a much longer analysis, click here
Not to be outdone, Adobe just announced GenStudio, a new application that helps brands create content and measure its performance, with generative AI — and the promise of brand safety — at its center. If you’re a marketing professional, I highly recommend that you get familiar with this new suite of tools because it will help streamline and automate your workflow. Theoretically, it gives you the speed and power of Adobe Express and Firefly, but keeps all of your content within certain guidelines and eliminates errors and hallucinations. Check it out
If you need to generate a bunch of different assets in different sizes for a range of different channels, you can do something similar to what we see in this gif.
Final Verdict: In the wake of the failed Figma acquisition, Adobe has definitely fallen behind, so this is a TKO for Canva. And what does this mean for you, the rank and file production artist? You’ll be expected to produce more graphics in less time. Welcome to the new normal.
Adobe also released a new feature for Firefly called ‘Structural Reference’. For those of you who still like to begin work by sketching, you can upload a rough starter image and Firefly will embellish it for you and make multiple image generations in the same structural layout. Check it out
Correction: Still Some Jobs in Big Tech
A few weeks ago, I wrote a controversial piece where I stated that my students should no longer count on big tech as a reliable career path. I still hold to that point of view based on the pattern of using AI as a means to cut staff, but I do have a couple glimmering points of light in this week’s news. First of all, Amazon wants to provide free AI skills training to two million people by 2025. They have broken it down into three initiatives; introductory modules for primary and middle schools, free online classes for high school and college students, and complex skill building tracks for working professionals. David Gewirtz, Senior Contributing Editor at ZDnet, has a fascinating article on this as he interviews Victor Reinoso, global director of education philanthropy at Amazon. Yeah, I know, another online class for another certificate doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, but ‘future you’ will thank you. Check it out
META on an AI Hiring Spree. While I cannot confirm this one, I’ve seen it over half a dozen times this week. In the ongoing AI arms race, META is willing to pay top dollar for AI talent, especially in the field of research.
“To better compete for artificial intelligence researchers, Meta Platforms is making unconventional moves, including extending job offers to candidates without interviewing them and relaxing a longstanding practice of not increasing compensation for employees threatening to leave. In a sign of how seriously the social media company is taking the competition for AI talent, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally written to researchers at Google’s DeepMind unit to recruit them, according to two people who viewed the emails. In some notes, Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of AI to META and said he hopes the recipient and the company will work together…”
While neither of these items provide much opportunity for you if you’re a graphic designer, it’s good to understand the trends and see where the money is going.
Superside: The Ten Best AI Design Tools
If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you’ve already heard me extoll the virtue of most of these tools. But if you’re new here, it might be refreshing to hear someone else’s take on the subject. Superside is a company offering a creative subscription service, often referred to as Creative-as-a-Service (CaaS, that allows businesses to access high-quality design resources quickly and efficiently, without the hassle of managing individual freelancers or agencies. If you’d like to see the tools they are actually using, Check it out
Tldr; Midjourney, Runway, ChatGPT, Vectorizer.ai, Firefly, Photoshop, Dreamstudio, Dalle, Magnific, and Krea
Inspiration: Generative Craft
By imposing the physical limitations of traditional crafts onto generative art tools, Tazi explained, “You see each pushing the boundaries of the other.” The designer’s inputs generate millions of unique outputs, which they curate before hand-crafting the design into the finished product.
Jakob Nielsen: AI Tools Used by UX Pros
Chat GPT dwarfs the others and the typical UX professional is using an average of 2.5 tools. You can glance at the graphic below or read the whole article. Check it out
That’s it for today! Thank you so much for reading and supporting my work. If you can forward this newsletter to your friends, I’d be so grateful. And if you have any questions, or would like me to a deep dive on any subject, you can always send me a message.