In today’s world, self-expression and creativity has never been more encouraged, celebrated, and incentivised — and technology is taking this to new heights. From Instagram to TikTok, blogs to personal websites, everything we need to express ourselves can be found at the touch of a screen. But with the digital realm now holding more power over our ability to communicate, develop and create together, we have birthed a narrative that only the tech-savvy can prosper in this digital era.

Enter, Adobe. The company’s continuous innovations have empowered creatives everywhere and most recently, with Adobe Express, given everyone the ability to navigate the digital world and create in their own unique way.

In June, the brand catapulted us all to the heights of the metaverse with digital brushes inspired by the king of self-invention; David Bowie, bringing endless methods of never-been-done-before expressionism to the masses. Another example of this is Adobe Substance 3D — a suite of tools and services that not only supports 3D content creation but also powers metaverse experiences. Bridging the gap between (big and small) businesses and consumers, Substance 3D allows anyone to create truly immersive experiences. “Smart brands are getting ‘metaverse-ready’ by growing their 3D and immersive content creation capabilities. That means that creative artists with expertise in 3D have a wealth of opportunities,” imparts Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President of Adobe Creative Cloud. 

To bring its latest innovations to its creative community, Scott unveiled some of the latest updates at Adobe’s Future of Creativity event series held in June in London, Paris and Berlin. From AI-powered innovations in Photoshop to expanded workflows in Lightroom, it’s clear Adobe’s mission is simple, to make creativity accessible and able to take on any task, no matter how big or small. Whether it’s adding a new lease of life to our favourite pictures or reviving damaged photos by detecting and eliminating scratches and other minor imperfections in seconds. With new neural filters available in Photoshop, Adobe has put cutting-edge Al and machine learning into the hands of creatives, helping to lower the often-intimidating barriers that stand between a creative mind and a technical hand.

But what about those who use technology to defy barriers? The company’s latest research will tell you, half of Gen Z admit social media is the only place they can truly be themselves — with a further 55% admitting they have adopted an alter ego to express themselves. Amongst these findings, it was David Bowie who was voted as one of the top icons of self-expression by Gen Z, alongside Harry Styles and Zendaya. In response, Adobe has paid tribute to the icon on the 50th anniversary of his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, by launching a new range of Bowie-inspired free digital tools across Adobe Creative Cloud as part of the ‘Adobe x Bowie’ collaboration. The new tools have been inspired by Bowie’s colourful and vibrant personas and include a range of make-up brushes named after some of his biggest hits, such as “Ashes”, “Changes”, ”Major Tom” and “Queen Bish”.

As part of the project, Adobe has also launched the next stage of the project with the virtual version of David Bowie’s dressing room, a virtual gaming experience which invites users to explore Bowie’s London dressing room where it all began and where Ziggy Stardust was born. The experience was created using Adobe Substance 3D, in collaboration with 3D artists from its community, and uses archival footage to create a 3D experience exploring Bowie paraphernalia including his famous red platform boots, Hagstrom-inspired guitar and green and gold palette bangles inspired by the fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto. Alongside the digitised tools, Adobe captures the explorative nature of Bowie, inspiring a new generation to live as the most authentic versions of themselves. 

With the above just scratching the surface of what Adobe has to offer customers to aid creativity, individualism and expression, the future has never looked brighter – and above all – connected. 

To learn more and try out the Bowie-inspired brushes yourself, head to adobe.com now…