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EYE ON DESIGN INDUSTRY NEWS

PHOTOSHOP TURNS 25

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PHOTOSHOP HAS EVOLVED AND WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE FUTURE

I

t’s incredible to think that a mere 25 years ago, a

piece of software as important today as

Photoshop didn’t even exist. From its humble

beginnings as a simple program to showcase

grayscale images on a black-and-white monitor by

brothers Thomas and John Knoll in 1987, Photoshop

has changed the digital world as we know it, growing

into one of the most powerful innovations in art and

design since the paintbrush itself. It’s become a

cultural icon, redefining creativity in a new digital age.

Today, virtually all the inspirational images we see

• from the logo on our morning coffee cup to the app
  on our iPhones and even the Hollywood blockbuster
  showing in cinemas – have been touched by
  Photoshop. It’s one of the most recognised software
  brands in the world, with tens of millions of users. The
  tools like Layers, the Healing Brush, Content Aware Fill
  and Camera Raw are commonly known by anyone
  interested in the image creation process. Even
  non-creatives know and recognise Photoshop.

“For 25 years, Photoshop has inspired artists and

designers to craft images of stunning beauty and

reality-bending creativity,” said Shantanu Narayen,

Adobe president and chief executive officer. “From

desktop publishing, to fashion photography, movie

production, website design, mobile app creation and

now 3D printing, Photoshop continues to redefine

industries and creative possibilities. And today that

Photoshop magic is available to millions.”

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It’s always incredibly impressive when you are

inspired by the work of a brand-new Photoshop

artist – particularly if that artist happens to still be in

their early twenties or even just a teenager, still

developing their style and at the beginning of their

career. For the team at Adobe, a new objective is to

find the best of the best of the artists who do exactly

that. To celebrate Photoshop’s 25th anniversary,

Adobe has decided to search for the most incredible

in the next generation of Photoshop creators to

inspire the rest of the digital world.

In the coming months, the Photoshop team will

be scouring the globe to find a unique selection of 25

of the most creative visual artists under 25.

“We’re looking for the most innovative, forward-

looking work out there that will show the world what

the next generation of Photoshop artists is made of,”

wrote Lex van den Berge, senior product manager of

digital imaging at Adobe, on Adobe’s official Photoshop

blog introducing their new search. “These 25 game

changers will be from all parts of the world, and their

art will represent their diverse cultures, life

experiences, points of view and dreams... All brought

to life with the help of Photoshop.” Could this be you,

someone you know, or even an artist you’ve admired?

Adobe is looking for visionaries with the ability to

inspire the masses through a unique artistic

perspective – and of course a provenability to create

The First Photoshop Image: Jennifer in Paradise, the first

Photoshop image ever created of Jennifer Walters (now Jennifer Knoll) in Bora Bora, August 1988

To celebrate Photoshop turning 25, Adobe plans

to showcase 25 of the most creative visual artists

under 25 who use Photoshop today in its ‘25 under

25’ campaign. The company also launched an

advertising campaign called Dream On during The

Academy Awards – all as a tribute to the incredible

artists and years of work that Photoshop has been

able to inspire, and of course, Thomas and John

Knoll, the visionaries who started it all.

THE PHOTOSHOP TIMELINE

1987

1988

University of Michigan PhD student Thomas Knoll

begins writing a program on his Macintosh Plus to

display greyscale images on a monochrome display.

His brother John Knoll, an Industrial Light & Magic

pioneer, recommended that Thomas turn it into a

fully-fledged image editing program and began to

collaborate with him

Photoshop 7.

released, includes

Adobe Camera Raw.

Adobe decides to purchase the

license to distribute in September.

Photoshop 1.0 is released on

the 19th of February, 1990.

Photoshop added to dictionary

as a verb meaning “to

manipulate or alter a digital

image”. Kodak launched first

DSLR, the DCS 100.

Photoshop 2.5 released

in November; adds

Windows version.

Photoshop 3.0 released; Adds layers

and features to help customers in

medicine and science.

Support for vector shapes introduced with

the release of Photoshop 6.0 released. The

first cameraphone is introduced. First

working human organ is 3D printed.

1990

1991

1992

1994

2000

2002