The mission of 99U is to empower the creative community.
Adobe 99U tells the stories of how creative leaders master their crafts and shape their industries. We do this in a variety of ways – daily on 99U.com, quarterly in 99U Magazine, and annually at the 99U Conference in New York City.
Whether you’re a designer, marketer, engineer, educator, artist, or CEO — if you approach your work creatively, 99U’s goal is to help you find the inspiration to build an incredible career.
Our Team
Will Allen, Director
Matt McCue, Editor-in-Chief Mark Brooks, Creative Director
Perrin Drumm, Executive Editor Andrea Rosen, Events Leader
Scott Belsky, Founder
Don’t know where to start? Here are some of our most-read articles:
So often we charge ahead in our careers with a single-minded focus on our pursuits. In this new series, we slow down and ask designers to reflect on their relationship to the craft. Here the Design Matters host explores what it means to her in a visual essay.
Aoi Yamaguchi began studying calligraphy at age six and earned the Master Calligrapher distinction at age 14. While Yamaguchi has respected the spiritual and aesthetic customs of her craft, she’s also branched out to make it her own. Some might call that blasphemy, but Yamaguchi views breaking from tradition as an important part of her artistic evolution.
German font god Erik Spiekermann doesn't plan to retire anytime soon. In fact, the 70-year-old doesn't plan on retiring at all. Consider the following the rules according to Spiekermann, a primer on design, entrepreneurship, business, culture, and aging gracefully, as told through his stories.
As the marijuana industry begins to mature, purveyors recognize the need to separate themselves with distinct branding. The hand-painted signs, bad puns, and Rastafarian flags that once defined the industry are giving way to sophisticated design that abandons aging stoners in favor of more upscale clientele.
Disney's first African-American artist was forced into retirement in 2001 at age 65. But that hasn't stopped the 81-year-old from continuing to create.
Caroline Weaver, the owner of CW Pencil Enterprise, a specialty pencil shop in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has managed to make the dream of obsessives come true: What if this thing I love, this strange small thing, could be my job? For Caroline Weaver the humble pencil has provided not only a business—celebrating its two-year anniversary this March—but a book as well, a history of the pencil entitled The Pencil Perfect.
For creatives, the retirement age of 65 is merely a mile marker, not the end, of their life's ride. Here four old souls, ages 67 to 101, discuss why they continue to hone their craft with no end in sight. Why? "There is an immortality to being creative," says one.
