Adobe Express: The Artist Takeover
CREATIVE CAMPAIGN & BRAND EXPERIENCE
The Partner Adobe Express is an all-in-one design tool built for everyday creators. From social media graphics to professional print, it's designed to make great design feel accessible to anyone.
The Opportunity Adobe Express launched a brand new Print & Delivery feature, giving users the ability to design and order professional printed products directly in the app. The team reached out to me to help bring that launch to life in a way that felt personal, creative, and genuinely exciting.
The Goal A new feature needs more than an announcement. It needs a feeling. Adobe wanted everyday creators to see themselves in the tool, not feel intimidated by it. My job was to take a digital feature and turn it into an emotional experience, one that said: your ideas are worth printing.
My Role Creative Direction · Concept Development · Illustration · Social Content Production
The Deliverables Visual Branding System · Custom Packaging & Mailers · Stickers & Postcards · Digital Templates · Storytelling Content
The Concept: "Start Where You Are"
When Adobe came to me, they had a feature. I gave them a feeling.
I built the entire campaign around one anchor phrase: Start Where You Are. I chose it as a direct response to the "blank canvas" anxiety that stops so many creators before they even begin. Rather than leading with what the tool does, I led with how the creator feels, and gave them permission to start messy, start small, and start right now.
The strategy ran on three pillars:
Lowering the barrier to entry "Start Where You Are" works like a visual permission slip. It reminds people that progress matters more than perfection, and reframes the tool from a professional product into a personal starting point.
Humanizing the brand By centering the campaign on the creator's emotional experience rather than the app's feature list, we positioned Adobe Express as a supportive creative partner, not just software you download and figure out on your own.
Building authentic connection As a self-taught artist, this phrase is not marketing copy for me. It's my actual creative mantra. Leading with that transparency turned a brand campaign into a shared experience, and made the community feel seen rather than sold to.
The Visual World I built a playful, remixable visual system using a pastel rainbow palette. The goal was to create something that looks polished from a distance and feels as inviting as a fresh set of art supplies up close. Every element was made to be mixed, matched, and made your own.
The Full Experience
I wanted the campaign to feel cohesive from screen to doorstep:
Custom Packaging: a standard shipping box turned into a "surprise and delight" unboxing moment, like getting a package from a creative friend.
Physical Keepsakes: stickers, bookmarks, and postcards that creators can keep or share, a little real-world proof that their ideas are worth making.
Digital Templates: my original artwork turned into remixable starting points inside the app, so anyone can jump in and start creating right away.
The Process
The best work always starts with messy sketches and a clear goal. Here is how I moved from an initial spark to a full visual system for the Adobe Express team.
Phase 1: Ideation
Once Adobe and I aligned on the emotional direction, I started with rough sketches to explore how "Start Where You Are" could live as a piece of lettering. The goal was to find a visual voice that felt handmade but intentional. Warm without looking amateur.
Phase 2: Lettering
From there I moved into detailed lettering work to bring the mantra to life. By mixing upper and lowercase letters and giving each character a bouncy, uneven rhythm, I created a look that feels full of energy and easy to approach. A visual reminder that you have permission to play.
Phase 3: Building the System
Rather than a single hero illustration, I built a library of remixable icons and supporting elements. A flexible toolkit keeps the campaign visually consistent whether you're inside the app, holding the shipping box, or scrolling past it on your phone.
Phase 4: The Partnership
Because this is an ongoing global campaign, I worked closely with the Adobe team to create a clear creative framework covering color palette, character guidelines, and asset specs. That way their designers could carry the "Start Where You Are" world into every corner of the Print & Delivery experience, long after our collaboration wrapped.
Social Storytelling
To launch the campaign, I created a series of Instagram Reels that went beyond a standard ad. Instead of showing what the tool does, I showed how I personally use it as a small business owner.
The Design Journey: A "Design with me" Reel walking through how I made my own business cards for an upcoming show, from a digital sketch all the way to a professional print in my hands.
The Collection Reveal: An unboxing video introducing the exclusive packaging and remixable templates, and inviting my community to start their own creative journey inside the app.
The Outcome
A Campaign That Keeps Showing Up
This is not a campaign that launched and ended. Every time a creator places a print order on Adobe Express, my artwork shows up at their door tucked inside a custom-designed box, on a postcard they can pin to their wall, on a sticker sheet they can actually use.
The work lives in the real world, not just on a screen. That was always the goal.
By bridging the gap between a digital tool and a physical moment of delight, we turned a simple order confirmation into something a creator actually remembers. A little nudge that says: your ideas are worth printing.
