Adobe Product Identity 2024 / Concept
Every year, Creative Cloud's product splash screens got refreshed app by app: Photoshop's, Illustrator's, Premiere's, with no throughline connecting any of them. Nothing was broken about that approach, but I kept pushing on whether the splash screens could do more: tell one complete story of creative transformation, instead of shipping as disconnected artworks.
The pitch, "Thread It," built the whole system around a single real project: partnering with Brilliant Corners Artist Management, whose roster includes Toro Y Moi, Soccer Mommy, Death Cab for Cutie, Squirrel Flower, and Real Estate, to produce a bespoke music video, then threading that one shoot's assets across every app as its own chapter. Video stills would feature on the Premiere Pro splash, the effects work on After Effects, a studio portrait on Lightroom, composited graphics on Photoshop, tour posters on Illustrator, and the album packaging on InDesign, each app's splash screen becoming a doorway into the same story rather than an endpoint.
I built in value beyond the splash screens themselves: concert access, tutorials that demystified the creative process using the artist's real assets, behind-the-scenes documentary footage, a year of Spotify, album and cassette giveaways, and mentorship opportunities with the creative crew, treating the campaign like membership rather than marketing.
It was self-initiated, built and designed the same way I approach every pitch deck. I presented it directly to Alejandro Chavetta, our Executive Creative Director, who loved it, but it didn't move past that stage; Adobe opted to keep the existing splash screen approach, and the concept never shipped.
Credits
John Caponi / Senior Creative Director / Self-initiated concept, design, and pitch
Alejandro Chavetta / Executive Creative Director
