As a graphic designer, it’s my job to stay up-to-date on the latest and greatest technologies to bring good design to the end-user. Unfortunately, these technologies often come with a pretty steep price tag. In design school, my supply budget dwarfed my business school friends’ book expenses, even considering that $800 Organizational Behavior monstrosity. Between the constant need to add more hard drive space to my computer to hold my enormous photo collage pieces for Environmental Design and the need to stay up-to-date on the latest software upgrades (because let’s be honest, if Adobe just came out with a tool that gives back ten hours of my life that I didn’t spend clone stamping out that chick’s arm for my Exit Project, it’s worth any price), my budget was toast. While I was forced to become well-versed in the culinary art of Ramen cuisine, now students and professionals alike can celebrate that this might not be their fate.
Adobe released its Creative Cloud last month, allowing consumers to pay for their best-selling software on a monthly subscription basis ($50/month) rather than paying the hefty $1,299 to $2,599 price tag for the boxed product. The application is unique in that it resides on your computer, but still gives you the benefits of a cloud-based solution. You can save files with the 20GB of cloud storage space included with your subscription and use the Creative Cloud Connection feature to access your files anywhere. When Adobe releases software updates, design students around the world no longer have to salivate over new features they can’t afford, the Creative Cloud will update itself with these new tools and tricks at no extra charge.
In the grander scheme of things, what does this mean? For design students, it means a slower pace in the rat race of keeping up with technology in an ever-changing world, and it means only paying for the software that you need and use, when you need and use it. For the rest of us, it shows a huge shift in the movement toward the cloud. The design realm has long been a place of desktop-exclusive application, but Adobe’s shift to the cloud shows an increased interest in this industry toward a more fluid, shareable and customizable environment. If Adobe can do it why can’t you?
Wondering if cloud could be the right solution for your business? Check out our eBook (designed by yours truly), The Top 5 Mistakes You Want to Avoid When Becoming a Cloud Superhero.
