How the Residency works.
Adobe Creative Residents receive access to the best creative tools and resources, along with guidance from advisors and a compensation package. In return, residents proactively pursue their own personal creative projects while sharing their processes, insights, and inspirations with the community along the way.
The Adobe Creative Residency:
Program details and how to apply.
Everyone has a dream project, but few people have the time and resources to pursue it. That’s why we created the residency. Our mission is simple: to support creative individuals in the early stages of their careers and foster a culture of creating and sharing.
Program details
How the residency works
The Adobe Creative Residency is a structured program designed to help you quickly reach your goals as a creative professional. Your focused residency project is the vehicle that takes you from where you are now to where you want to be in your creative career.
Throughout the year, you’ll proactively make inspiring and innovative work, try new tools and workflows, refine your process, and engage with others to share your progress, discoveries, and outcomes. You’ll also attend events, speak at conferences, and collaborate with other leaders in your field.
“This year gave me confidence in my creative abilities and my future in the design world. I was always pushed to think big, to try new stuff and to embrace and face my fears – and this really unleashed my creativity! I made lots of new contacts in the design scene and am still benefiting from this year.”
— Rosa Kammermeier, 2017 Creative Resident
The benefits of being a Creative Resident
- Full salary and health benefits
- An entire year to focus on a personal creative project
- Adobe support and expertise to help you realize your project
- Access to Adobe Creative Cloud
- Access to hardware as needed for the duration of your residency
- Opportunities to meet and receive guidance from leading creatives
- Access to creative events including Adobe MAX and 99U
- Increased exposure and recognition in the creative community
”I’ve really enjoyed being challenged. Often when you work on something that’s successful, the client will ask you to do that same thing repeatedly until it’s not popular anymore. There are times when you feel really frustrated with that because you get locked into the same style of shooting or illustrating or designing or whatever it is. But the Creative Residency gives you the ability to show the range of your skills, because the client is really yourself.“
— Aundre Larrow, 2017 Creative Resident
How to apply
Please read the following application guidelines to be sure you have the best possible chance of success:
1. Before you apply, consider the following aspects of the program:
- Career experience. We’re looking for applicants who are early in their creative careers, though we do consider applicants who are switching from one creative field to another or from non-design careers. Applicants should have at least a few years of education, training, and/or experience in the field of their proposed projects.
- Travel requirements. Residents travel up to 25% of the year for Creative Jams, Adobe MAX, 99U, and other conferences. Residents work with the program coordinator to determine which trips are most beneficial for their projects, and travel is spread out over the year.
- Full-time commitment. If, during the residency year (May-April), you’d be working another job, taking a long vacation, or fulfilling any other commitment that would prevent you from investing yourself full-time in the residency, you are not eligible to be a resident. If you’re a graduating student, you’re eligible only if your tests and coursework are complete by the end of May.
- Work ownership and licensing. Residents retain ownership of all the work they create during the residency, but they grant Adobe a license to use that work in promotional materials, at events, and in other venues. Adobe partners with residents to ensure the integrity of their work wherever it’s used.
2. Take time gathering your application materials.
In the application, we ask for a project proposal. This is a project that helps you get from where you are into the field that you're interested in working full-time after the residency.
We’ll be looking at your project proposal alongside your past work samples to determine whether they’re a good match for the program. Be prepared to answer the following kinds of questions in your application:
- What is your project and how will it help you build toward a career doing this type of work full-time after the residency?
- How will this project build off of work you’ve been doing?
- How will you share your project and process with the creative community?
- What will others learn from your project?
- What digital or analog tools will you use?
- How will mobile apps be integrated into your workflow?
- What will your creative process be from beginning to end?
- What will your monthly schedule look like?
Please only submit one project proposal. Even if you have several clever ones, we just want your best.
Check out our sample application form here and read our application insider tips on Create Magazine.
3. Carefully select the past projects you want to share with us.
You’ll need to share three past projects along with links to your online portfolio and/or Behance page. Research the best portfolio styles by checking out Behance projects from some of our past and current residents, including Anna Daviscourt and Rosa Kammermeier. Watch current resident Aaron Bernstein’s video on his residency project.
4. Provide budget details for your proposed residency project.
Include costs related to your project alone. You don’t need to include salary details or travel or living expenses.
Being an Adobe Brand Ambassador
Creative Residents are full-time employees of Adobe for the duration of their residency year. As an Adobe employee, you'll be a brand ambassador who's expected to collaborate with Adobe marketing and product teams, corporate partners, your local and national creative communities, your fellow residents, and the Adobe leadership team.
We're looking for individuals who are excited to make the most of these opportunities and who possess an open mindset and enthusiasm for building community. In addition to being highly talented, Adobe Creative Residents are flexible, mature, proactive, self-possessed, self-directed, and engaging.
Want to be a Creative Resident?
For tips on how to craft your best application, read our guidelines.
Sign up to be notified when 2020 applications go live.
