The Story of Adobe: What Made Them the Leaders of Graphic Design Tools

Graphic design jobs require a wide range of programs for a designer to know. Many require years of experience, formatting skills, user experience programs like Figma, or tools like Microsoft Excel/Word. Yet there’s always something else there. Look at some of the skills at this graphic designer job for the NBA.

Or how about this motion graphic designer job at NBC Sports?

Do you notice a similarity? Both jobs require the use of Adobe software. And there are more graphic design jobs where Adobe is a fundamental tool of a job’s requirements. But why is Adobe such a big part of graphic design, and how on earth did it become the industry standard? Let's jump into a deep dive into how Adobe became the leader of graphic design.

Do you notice a similarity? Both jobs require the use of Adobe software. And there are more graphic design jobs where Adobe is a fundamental tool of a job’s requirements. But why is Adobe such a big part of graphic design, and how on earth did it become the industry standard? Let's jump into a deep dive into how Adobe became the leader of graphic design.

Adobe’s Foundation and History

Adobe was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke to change from publishing in paper to an all-digital format. However, the company didn’t make its first program until 1985, when it released PostScript. The system took quality images or documents and printed them in high-quality resolution. This product would be the first of many technological innovations, as Adobe continues to release new programs and update old software to keep them fresh and new.

What made Adobe so unique for its time was its core values and work ethic. Amazing Workplaces lists Adobe’s main goals as being genuine, owning the outcome, raising the bar, and innovating. This set the bar for how the programs would be created and what they strived to make technology beneficial to everyday people. Below are lists of their goals from the site with deeper explanations.

• “Be genuine,”: This authenticity fosters an environment where individuals feel valued for who they are, rather than just what they do.

• “Own the outcome,”:  Adobe believes in empowering employees to take ownership of their work, instilling a sense of pride and purpose.

• “Raise the bar,”: Adobe cultivates a culture where innovation is celebrated, and employees are encouraged to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

• “Innovate,”: the final pillar, encourages Adobe employees to think creatively and look beyond conventional solutions. 

The Power of Adobe Programs

These very programs made Adobe a standout to other digital design programs of the time. CLS Learning Solutions lists a couple of their different programs and their uses in different industries. This is because Adobe offers 50+ programs, but Learning Solutions lists the most notable ones. Here are some of the programs they list in their article:

• Adobe Photoshop

• Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe InDesign

• Adobe Premiere Pro

• Adobe After Effects

• Adobe Dreamweaver

• Adobe Acrobat

• Adobe XD

• Adobe Bridge

• Adobe Lightroom

All of the programs serve a different use. For example, graphic designers use 3 big ones: Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign. Each serves a different purpose for designers. Photoshop allows for editing/fixing up photographs. Illustrator creates smooth patterns and designs that can be any size. Indesign helps with formatting print work and the layout of a design. 

Or maybe not looking to design, maybe you want to edit a video. Great, that's when Premiere and After Effects are used. Maybe something else, like coding. Amazingly, Adobe offers Dreamweaver. Maybe you simply want to edit a document, oh wait, there’s Adobe Acrobat. Perhaps you are looking for generative AI? Look, there’s Adobe Firefly! There are so many programs that Adobe offers, and all of them are beneficial to multiple industries and graphic design especially.

How did the Company Change the Graphic Design Industry?

Still, with so many available programs for designers, how did Adobe rise to the top? Simple. Adobe designs its programs in such a masterful way that other programs simply cannot do. Each program has tools and techniques that simply outpower any other program.

Let's take Photoshop for example. In the program, you can:

• Crop out whole backgrounds

• Fix up mistakes in a design

• Add anything into an image using masks

• Add color variations or text

• Make logos, posters, 3D objects, etc.

• Make detailed and improved compositions 

• Restore old parts of a photo

And that's just Photoshop. Photoshop was so useful that it became a word. Jessibelle Garcia states in her article Why Is the Adobe Creative Suite the Industry Standard?, that Photoshop had such a huge impact on the design industry that it has its own term: “photoshopping”, as a way of explaining that you are editing an image or design.

Adobe Illustrator and Indesign are also no different. Designers use Illustrator for making logos and brand identities especially since it allows for the creation of vector images, or images that won’t pixelate no matter the size. That's huge for designers since you might want a design to be on a huge billboard or a mug. Meanwhile, Indesign is fantastic for designers because it can create detailed PDFs, books, and pamphlets since it has built-in grid structures to help organize content.

So Why You Should Care If Adobe is in the Lead?

I don’t think we realize the true strengths that Adobe brought to graphic design. To think that such a company created such a huge amount of programs, all of which are industry standard is crazy. As the lead of the design world, learning these programs helps a designer create wonderful pieces, and improve their design skills. So thank you, Adobe. What a marvel you truly are.

Thanks for reading!