I had the opportunity to help produce and co-host an Adobe Creative Jam for FIDM students in San Francisco and Los Angeles. During this half-day bootcamp-style design tournament, students quickly learned the basics of Adobe XD and then worked in teams of 3-5 to design an interactive prototype. Instructions given the day of the event: “Your challenge is to address a community and its residents, and design a way to make a tangible, measurable effect on their communities."
Eight teams working in three labs in Los Angeles and one team working at the Adobe offices in San Francisco were connected via CrowdCast and presented their work to the judges and other participants via this video chat. During the challenge, Creative Jam participants also heard from inspiring speakers Brycie Jones, Senior Communications Officer of Digital at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Antoinette Carroll, Founder & CEO of Creative Reaction Lab. Judges included Heather Haselwood, UX Designer at NFL Media, Pau Hershey, Sr. Experience Designer at Electronic Arts, and FIDM Alumnus Daniel Santos, Design Director at Kettle.
The winning team—made up of L.A.-based Conger, Emma, Carmen, and Erika—created an app, Walking Buddy, to help people feel comfortable walking in areas they may or may not be familiar with. Jordan, Marilou, and Stephanie took home second place for their Respect You app, while Vanessa, Ari, Chelsea, and Emily won third place for their Trans Ally Community app.
All competitors who successfully completed the Jam received a three-month subscription to Adobe Stock. Team members on the first place team won Amazon gift cards worth $250, second place team members won $150 each, and third place won $50 each.
Documentation of the event can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/adobecreativejam/videos/301452467248055/
https://www.facebook.com/adobecreativejam/videos/196376257920237/
