Engaging with designers and design industry execs means an eclectic, exciting mix of personalities—and there’s never a dull moment. While I’ve been interviewing all kinds of folks for the majority of the last ten years, I have to admit that, regardless of the field, certain people have a calming, comfortable way about them.
He’s no stranger to good design, and he’s surely no stranger to speaking to thousands. Before I bumped into Behance founder and Adobe VP Scott Belsky last year, post HOW Design Live, I pinned him as an über- successful, (likely) super-energetic CEO with very little time to spend with yet another writer. What I didn’t expect was the earnest, bright-eyed and driven entrepreneur fielding my every question with great enthusiasm.
Behance had joined forces with Adobe’s Creative Cloud, and Belsky couldn’t have been more excited about the possibilities.
Scott Belsky on Advocating for the Creative Community
Courtesy of ScottBelsky.com
What was most exciting about teaming up with Adobe?
From a personal perspective, what made our team excited about joining Adobe was the determination they had about moving from a software company to a services company—that inherently makes the company about a lot more than tools.That was our big message: We want to be about more than our tools. The tools are obviously updated every few weeks versus every few months. So there’s a new level of expectation regarding the quality of tools …
But set that aside, the what does the Behance-Adobe marriage actually mean?People need to be able to collaborate and share their projects without friction. This is an opportunity for smart workflow and for users to get attribution for the work they’re doing.
Behance is part of this evolution: Push this software company to be a services company to be more about the creative community and connect around the things they’ve created. And really connect with the community.
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Why are you drawn to developing new ways to help creatives be more productive?
At Adobe, I believe we need to be the wind at the backs of creative careers. And this means more efficiency, better workflow, better attribution for the work that people do. Reduce friction in the creative process and make everything connect. Making sure you can always access the stuff that you’ve created, with whom you’ve created it via the Creative Cloud.
There’s a bigger picture here. We’re advocates of the creative process. We know creative files better than anyone in the world. Behance connectivity is incredible. Sharing projects, viewing millions and millions of projects. In real time. It’s a kind of transparency the creative world has never seen. Think about the creative process—and not just the tools that you use …
My time spent with Belsky can be summed up in one easy statement: He’s behind creative careers. He knows that ideas, when well-executed, turn the world. So he’s doing everything in his power to help creative professionals achieve greatness.
Perhaps the Behance-Adobe Creative Cloud integration is just the beginning …
Catch Adobe at HOW Design Live May 12-17 in Boston. Visit the Adobe booth for the latest in software and training information.