Adobe - Best New Consumer Products - Other

Company: Adobe, San Jose, CA
Entry Submitted By:Edelman
Company Description: Adobe is an American creative software company headquartered in San Jose California. Adobe is known for the invention of the paper to digital PDF file type, as well as its legacy tools including Photoshop, Acrobat and Creative Cloud. Adobe has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades for technology and innovation.
Nomination Category: New Product & Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Consumer Products - Other

Nomination Title: Adobe's Illustrator on the iPad

If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which it was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released: October 20, 2020

Illustrator on iPadis a reimagined touch-based app bringing the precision and versatility of the legacy Illustrator desktop experience to the iPad for the first time. In 1987, vector graphics were introduced by Adobe in Illustratorondesktop, revolutionizing the graphic design industry. Now after years of research and collaboration with the creative community, Adobe Illustrator has undergone its biggest transformation yet, by bringing its powerful capabilities to mobile devices, enabling creativity anywhere and everywhere.

Design professionals and anyone creatively inclined now can intuitively create from anywhere and capture ideas on the go with powerful and precise mobile vector tools that bring the power and versatility of Illustrator’s desktop experience to the iPad and Apple Pencil. Users can draw as naturally as they would with their favorite pen –with the added precision Adobe Illustrator is known for. With advanced capabilities like radial, grid, and mirror repeat the design experience is not only intuitive, but is fun.

Unlike other design apps available Illustrator on the iPad is part of the Creative Cloud. Work can be accessed and used in Adobe’s other apps like Photoshop and Fresco via desktop or iPad. Users can easily collaborate through documents in the cloud, set their imagination free with a vast and ever-growing library of 18,000+ fonts, and work efficiently with their easily accessible library of creative assets. All of these capabilities are built for Apple’s powerful hardware, so complex work once only possible on the desktop can now be created anywhere and with anyone.

Global changes brought to light by the pandemic have accelerated the need to find better, more efficient ways of working and creating, regardless of where we are. Illustrator on the iPad’s mobile workflow allows users to create infinitely scalable professional work from anywhere. With corevectorauthoring and editing capabilitiesand seamless workflows with Illustrator on the desktop, designers can seamlessly transition from one platform to the other. Illustrator is with you, no matter where you are.

Illustrator on the iPad has already been widely celebrated among design professionals since its launch in October 2020. The app has earned a 4.6/5 rating and Editor’s Choice award on Apple’s App Store with over 5,000 reviews, with users expressing enthusiasm for the tool, citing its vector capabilities and fresh new UI for the iPad and Apple Pencil as major proponents of the tool that streamline their digital workflows.

The app also received strong testimonials from major product reviewer sites, including PCMag, CNET, , Lifewire, iMore, ZDNet, TechRadar and others. Reviews highlighted the ease of use and dexterity between the desktop and iPad versions of the tool. Key quotes from these testimonials include:

PCMag, Shelby Tupper: “Illustrator on the iPad is another star in Adobe’s growing constellation of tablet-only and reimagined desktop-to-iPad apps.”

CNET, Lori Grunin: “The first version of Adobe's long-awaited mobile illustration app is pretty impressive...Some apps you just break out when you have to work and some you just want to waste hours fooling around with. For me, the initial version of Photoshop felt like work. Fresco felt like play. Illustrator feels like a smart balance of both.”

TechRadar, Basil Kronfli: “Given everything that Adobe Illustrator for iPad can do, not to mention its excellent Apple Pencil integration, it’s easy to recommend. As a typography tool, it’s virtually unparalleled and is a great way to get ideas out of your head when a computer isn’t within reach. Additionally, the Apple Pencil integration is stellar, as is Creative Cloud syncing.”

ZDNet, Mary Branscombe: “Illustrator on the iPad doesn't try to fit in all 80+ tools from the desktop version. It's optimised as a sketchbook that designers who choose to work on an iPad will find useful for creating vector illustrations quickly and naturally, that they may later refine on the desktop. (These days, that's equally useful during a power cut or when someone else needs the computer for school or work as it is when truly mobile.)”

The review accolades and product rankings linked above and below highlight customer reception of the tool upon launch. Reactions were overwhelmingly positive, with users applauding the app’s vector capabilities within the iPad and Apple Pencil framework.

The case studies linked below highlight the wide variety of use cases for Illustrator on the iPad throughout the world, detailing how the app can be used for both Illustration and larger-than-life figures.

Additional Links and Supporting Materials:
Reviews:
9to5Mac, Hands-on With Adobe Illustrator on the iPad, Michael Steeber
CNET, Adobe Illustrator for iPad Delivers Fluid and Feature-Packed Design Tools, Lori Grunin
iMore, Adobe Illustrator on iPad Review: Your Favorite Vector Tools Are Finally Available on the Go, Rebecca Spear
Lifewire, Why Adobe Illustrator on iPad Isn't for the Pros, Charlie Sorrel
Mac Observer, Adobe Illustrator for iPad Is Now Available, Andrew Orr
MacStories, Adobe Max Kicks off With Illustrator for iPad, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Fresco Updates for iPad, Plus the Addition of Fresco for iPhone, John Voorhees
PCMag, Adobe Illustrator on the iPad Review, Shelby Tupper
TechRadar, Adobe Illustrator for iPad Review, Basil Kronfli
ZDNet, Adobe Illustrator on the iPad, Hands on: A Useful Tool for Experienced Designers, Mary Branscombe

Best-Of Roundup Inclusions:
PCMag, Best Tech Products of 2020, Staff
PCMag, Best iPad Apps for 2021, Staff