Announcing the MAX 2025 Creativity Awards winners
The second annual Adobe MAX Creativity awards set out to honor the world’s most innovative and impactful creative work powered by Adobe tools. Join us in congratulating this year’s winners for excellence in their respective fields.
Design
Professional Design
Castil
Maria Vioque Niguyenmultidisciplinary designer and co-founder of HONDOworks by exploring the intersection of analog and digital design. Her work is driven by a love of poetic visual language and thoughtful storytelling. At HONDO Studioher team reimagined the identity of Castilan Italian brand with a rich heritage in metal craftsmanship and contemporary furniture design. The goal was to create a visual language that reflects the strength and versatility of Castil’s steel-bending process. Working in close collaboration with type designer Ignacio Cascothey developed the bespoke Castil Mono typeface and a new logoboth core elements that capture the brand’s precision and adaptability.
The resulting design system is clean and flexiblecelebrating Castil’s customizable products while supporting expressive and functional applications across all touchpoints. This rebrand embodies HONDO’s commitment to collaborative and thoughtful designgiving Castil a versatile platform to share its distinctive approach to modern craftsmanship.
Professional Design
Forketta
Moh Febri Adiawarja is the creative director of WOBL Creativea studio based in Malang and BaliIndonesia. With over eight years of experience in the creative industryAdiawarja specializes in illustration and graphic designblending vibrant ideas with aesthetics that resonate with audiences. His work balances creativity and clarityensuring every design not only speaks but connects.
Adiawarja reimagined Forketta as a way to reintroduce pasta to a younger audience — not just as a comfort foodbut as a playfulcreative experience. With thousands of pasta recipes circulating onlinethe options are both endlessoverwhelmingand forgotten. Forketta flips that habit by encouraging young people not to just save recipes for laterbut to actually dive in and try them.
Working alongside Bimo Finca Azvyhis Creative/Art DirectorAdiawarja brought Forketta to life with bold illustrationscolorful packagingand a tone that speaks directly to Gen Z and young Millennials. The goal: be the pasta that sparks joyexperimentationand everyday excitement. It’s not just about eating pasta but about making it an adventure in flavor and creativity.
Young Creator
“Cruda”
Estrella Gracia is a multidisciplinary designer based in ValenciaSpain. She recently graduated in Design and Creative Technologies from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and is now working as a digital designer at Gusta. Her work focuses on experimenting with different design formats and fields — including editorialpackagingletteringdigitalwebmotionand 3D — to discover newcreative ways to approach both personal and professional projects. She is passionate about blending technology and human-centered design to create meaningful user experiences.
Gracia is also active in the Spanish design community and creates educational and life videos on her YouTube channel. Her aim is to continue growing in UX/UI design while also connecting with more creatives that value experimentation and thoughtful design.
“Cruda” (translated to “raw” in Spanish) is an independent editorial project born as a response to the constant media bombardment of retouched imagesfinished projectsand the “lack of erratic references in our collective imagination,” as Gracia describes it. The project is the magazine: all 71 pagesthree covers for a possible yearly collectionart direction of the photography for the coversand the design of the header. It was also printed as a real-life prototypeincluding special paper stocktransparenciesand inserts to add rhythm and true imperfection to the final result.
Image Making
Professional Image Making
“The Lost Keepers of Flannan Isles”
Born in Santa CruzBoliviaHugo Cuellar is a London-based production artistdesigneranimatorand illustrator. Spanning multiple creative disciplineshis work combines an eye for designa strong sense of narrativeand a collaborative approachhelping brandsstudiosand agencies translate concepts into striking visual experiences.
Cuellar was tapped by Fable Whiskyan independent brand of Scottish whisky makers that uses a unique storytelling approach to immerse their consumers in a world of distant talesmysteryandof coursetraditional well-crafted spirits. They asked Cuellar to bring their brand to lifeboth in animation and packaging illustration.
Cuellar created “The Lost Keepers of Flannan Isles,” a real-life tale concerning the dramatic disappearance of the lighthouse keepers in the Flannan Islesfirmly set in the lore of Scotland. The project consisted of an animated film describing the tale in a poetic and powerful fashionas well as a series of illustrations that feature important moments in the storyeach being displayed in the different types of whisky boxes in the series.
Personal Image Making
Keshiki: Echoes of Colorado
Thomas Dubois is a filmmaker and creative director with a foundation in architecture. Trained to think in spacesequenceand structurehe applies core principles from architecture to every frame he shoots — creating a visual language that is restrained yet evocative. His work spans filmsvisual creationspitch materialsand visual development for narrative IPall unified by a meticulousdesign-driven process that conveys his unique sensibilities into mesmerizing narratives.
“Keshiki: Echoes of Colorado” is a series of digital artworks that views Colorado’s rugged topographies through the lens of Japanese landscape traditions. Dubois used restrained palettes and deliberate strokes to translate early morning fogthe golden silence that follows a thunderstormand that tension between vast scale and intimate detail. The aim is to let gesture and restraint do the talkingto blend traditional forms with modern tools and find a new visual emotion in a familiar terrain.
In Japanesekeshiki (景色) means “scenery,” but it also carries the moodmemoryand soul of a place. That’s the heart of this work: Dubois seeks to reimagine this place through the poetics of brushworktexturesand light.
In a visual culture that rewards speed and certaintythis project invites the viewer to slow down and engageto experience a place through its moodcolorsand the in-between.
Young Creator Image Making
“Melcos in Metropolis”
Clément Berneron is an illustrator and graphic designer based in BordeauxFrance. Originally trained at GOBELINS Parishe founded his studio MelcGraphicwhere he specializes in creating dense universes in which the viewer can get lost and enjoy searching for hidden details. His work draws as much from observing reality as from the desire to transform it into fiction. The goal is simple: to share a sense of wonder by inviting everyone to dream like a child.
“Melcos in Metropolis” is an illustrated fresco that reimagines New York City by creating a unique ecosystem inhabited by characters called Melcos. The digital artwork blends observation and fictioninviting everyone to exploreplayand lose themselves in the details. More than just an imageit is an ecosystem where the eye wandersguided by curiosity and wonder.
Motion
Professional Motion
McDonalds“Make it Click!”
Mardo El-Noor is a New Zealand-based mixed-media director-designerrecognized for merging live action with animation and motion graphics. With a background in graphic designhe brings a design-led approach to every projectdrawing on UI and poster aesthetics to shape framesvisual researchand concept pitches. A self-described chameleonMardo focuses on creative solutions over a fixed aesthetica philosophy that has established him as New Zealand’s go-to director for mixed-media work.
McDonalds tapped creative agency DDB for help bringing attention to seatbelt usage during New Zealand’s summer road trip season. DDB partnered with El-Noor to revisit the iconic “Make It Click” campaignfirst launched in New Zealand in the 1980s to spur seatbelt use. They brought in Kiwi DJ Jess Rhodes to produce a modern remix of the classic Kiwi anthemwith a fresh DnB mix — now reminding a new generation of drivers to buckle up and switch on Do Not Disturb to stay focused behind the wheel.
Personal Motion
“Noodlz”
Abraham Egbobawaye is captivated by abstractgraphicaland playful approaches of visual communication in both mediumswhere he can challenge himself to communicate complex topics in simplergraphicand meaningful ways. He always hopes to learn and collaborate with teams on projects that are meaningfulfunand delightful.
“Noodlz” is a series of sketches3D rendersand animations with a focus on dynamicabstract compositions and movement. His simple hope is that the works make someoneother than himsmile. Egbobawaye brought it to life through play and tons of iterationfinding that making this series of artwork was much better than daydreaming about it.
Young Creator Motion
“The Tale of Two Cruel Rulers”
Anastasia Rykova is a visual developer and 3D artist working in the animation industry. Coming from a Fine Arts backgroundshe views animation as one of the most powerful tools for self-expression.
With a degree in Computer Animation from Ringling College of Art and Design and professional experience as a VisDev artist and 3D designershe often acts as a bridge between the 2D and 3D departments. Her portfolio includes roles as an associate art director/VisDev artist at Gasket Studios3D artist and cinematics designer at Air A Meda workshop with Disney Live Entertainmentand mentorships with Women in Animation and CTN.
“The Tale of Two Cruel Rulers” is a 3D animated short film that serves as an anti-war statement presented as a cautionary tale. The story follows two rulers whoafter causing a deadly warfight over their peasants’ bones to decide who will rule a lifeless kingdom. It's a personal reflection on griefwarand the absurdity of power-seeking.
Photography
Professional Photography
“Music in Berlin”
Maria Louceiro is a freelance photographer and art director based in BerlinGermany. She studied Mining and Geo-Environmental Engineering but found that she loved drawing and photographing the mines much more than actually working in them. Then she studied Communication Design and has been working with both analog and digital photography and bringing a dreamy approach to her imagescollaborating with clients such as AdobePolaroidUniversal Musicamong others.
“Music in Berlin” is a series of images of the Pitchfork Berlin Festivalmeant to provide a record of the event that immerses people in the festival’s special ambiance. This series tries to achieve dynamic compositions and expressions of light to explore the connection between musiclightand color. Her hope is to capture the magic of the performances and the atmosphere of the different concertsin a vibrant and emotional way.
Personal Photography
“An Act of Becoming”
Izaskun Valmaseda is a self-taught visual artist based in MadridSpain. Her work lies at the intersection of Fine Art and conceptual photographycombining meticulous aesthetics with strong emotional symbolism. This multidisciplinary background shaped her visualtechnicaland narrative approach from the very beginning. Her work has been exhibited in SpainItalyAustriaand the Netherlandsand she has collaborated as a featured artist with international brands such as ViewSonic ColorPro. She is currently expanding her practice into video art and digital mediaincorporating emerging tools while maintaining honesty and full creative control.
“An Act of Becoming” is a self-portrait that portrays a woman caught in a suspended moment of self-redefinition. While the pose echoes classical portraiturethe digitally constructed environment — created with generative tools — unfolds as an inner landscape rather than a physical space. She inhabits a threshold: between costume and skinpast and becomingtradition and self-authorship. Her gaze resists spectaclecharged with both vulnerability and strength.
Young Creator Photography
The First Supper 1995/ The First Supper 2024
Beatriz Simasis TorontoCanada-based artist and current graduate student in the Master of Art History program the University of Toronto. Simas explores notions of identitycultural connectionsand belonging through the medium of photography as well as the contextualization of art history. By performing self-portraitureSimas touches on notions of individuality and different personalities through the careful curation of clothingwigsmakeupand props. Using herself as a living canvasshe embodies given characters — either larger than life archetypes or smallintimate and personal realities — in order to explore cultural contexts and dismantle traditional ways of viewing. A driving question in her practice is: What does it mean to be a first-generation Canadian with a strong cultural backgroundwithin a visual realm? Through a theatrical/character-based photographic practiceshe thoroughly analyzes and creates fully realized charactersundergoing a physical transformationcaught on camera.
“The First Supper 2024” is Simas’ recreation of “The First Supper 1995,” a family photograph taken by her mothernearly thirty years prior. Stricken by the original photograph's quasi-religious compositionthe artist places herself in the shoes of her familyand subsumes herself in costumeincluding wigsclothesjewelryand makeup in order to enter the internal psyche of those she portrays. This piece serves as an introspective look at the immigrant experiencereflecting on cultural dilution over timeand differences between being a first-generation Canadian versus recent Portuguese-Brazilian Immigrants.
Video
Professional Video
“Field Trip”
Saul Knight is a London-based cinematographercamera operator and editor. He was born and raised in the countryside of NottinghamEngland where he created short films with his school friends before moving to Bristol to study filmmaking and specialize in Cinematography. After moving to Londonhe worked as creative video lead for a leading fashion brandand he is now a full-time freelancer working on social adsfashion campaignsdocumentariesshort filmsand music videos. Knight has led largemulti-cam shoots and designed complex studio lighting set-ups — but he also enjoys solo shooting on location if the project requires.
“Field Trip” is a shortbranded documentary film that follows six runners competing in “The Speed Project,” an ultra-relay race through Chile’s Atacama Desert — the driestnon-polar desert on Earth. Just gritteamworkand 500 kilometers of unforgiving terrain. From being chased by wild dogs in the opening kilometer to climbing from 250m to 3,700m elevation over 88kmthis race tested everything for both runners and Knight: physical endurancemental resilienceand the strength of the team.
Personal Video
“Spin Cycle”
Howard “Howey” William Mitsakosis a filmmaker and creative director based in upstate New York. With over twenty years of experience in commercial cinematography and storytellinghe leads Novel Studiosproducing award-winning commercialsfilmsmusic videosand branded content for regional and national clients. His personal work explores surrealpsychologicaland emotional themes of the human condition.
“Spin Cycle” is a short film that explores the emotional limbo people experience when they’re stuck between the lives they lead and the lives they quietly long for. The laundromat serves as a metaphor for that suspended state — a liminal space of waitingrepetitionand quiet reflection. The goal was to build a surreal-yet-grounded atmosphere that captured this “in-between” feelingblending realism with psychological metaphor.
Young Creator Video
Alone in Greenland
Unai Canela is a filmmakerenvironmentalistand anthropology student at Universitat Rovira i VirgiliSpain. He has contributed to documentariesfilmsand various media productions as a directornarratorcinematographerand editor. After spending a year in GreenlandCanela is currently working on a TV series about Iberian wildlife in Spain.
“Alone in Greenland” is a documentary film born directly from Canela’s childhood. As a teenhe accompanied his dad on assignment to Greenland to photograph the melting glaciers. The trip caught Canela’s imagination. Six years laterhe took a detour from his studies to embark on a formidable solo trek across Greenland’s Arctic tundra. “Alone in Greenland” documents his journey: tracking muskoxencamping in front of glacierswalking across frozen lakeshuddling on the shores of a frozen oceansearching for poloar bearsand sleeping under the Aurora Borealis. In the processCanela became aware of the fragility of this ecosystem — learning about the melting ice capwhich has a crucial effect on our planet’s changing climate.
Read more on this year’s winners here.
