Hasta La Ideas

The Awwwards Conference are humming along this morning, on the second of two days of talks, and we’re excited to share some of the UX insights and news from Berlin — but before we get into it, we’d kindly like to remind you that you can watch the livestream at Adobe Live.

If you happened to tune in (or be there), you already know that Day One was jam-packed with inspiration, with too many highlights to mention in a short recap — but we’ll try anyway! Erich Nagler kicked things off by defining Art Director as a hybrid role in which one must wear the proverbial hats of a Conductor, Curator, Journalist, Director, and Ethicist, sharing a behind-the-scenes look at Google Doodles (where he works) along the way. (Among the fun facts: for Doodles that depict a historic writer, poet, or painter holding a writing instrument or brush, the team double-checks if he or she was right- or left-handed.)

The two subsequent talks showed the breadth of the programming: Jeany Ngo offered a deeply personal narrative while Harry Roberts offered a highly technical Vim showcase. The balance of the talks were crowd-pleasing showreels, edifying case studies, and words of wisdom, though it’s also worth mentioning the sheer diversity of speakers and projects. Irina Spicaka elaborated on enabling artists and musicians to create interactive works through better UX, while Julia Kloiber advocated for empowering disenfranchised citizens through better UX, in keeping with her work as the founder of Code for Germany.

Irina Spicaka (left) with her collaborator Holzhey. Photo by Artistsweb

MC Mr. Bingo lightened the mood throughout the show, which finished strong with the two final talks: following a team of Wix designers who literally told a story through UX, Michael Flarup wrapped things up with a feel-good tale of his own path to becoming a successful maker of digital things — his favorite being app icons.

And speaking of icons, it so happens that Adobe XD has just unveiled a brand new series of icon kits designed by renowned studios, all available to download for free. To mark its commitment to top-notch UX, Adobe has partnered with Lance Wyman, Anton & Irene, and Büro Destruct to create icons that embody #GoodDesign principles. Learn more about them here, or download them directly here.

But wait, there’s more! In addition to the release of the free icon kits, Adobe XD also offered a sneak peek of a forthcoming feature: vector graphics support in Creative Cloud libraries, allowing for seamless workflows between vector graphics and XD projects. Check out the teaser video:

There’s still more than half of Day Two to go, so be sure to tune in between now and 5:00PM CET (11:00AM ET) for the home stretch of the Awwwards Conference in Berlin, including the closing keynote from Adobe’s own Khoi Vinh at 16:10PM. Head over to Adobe Live for the livestream!