Chad Siegel, Group Product Manager, Design Segment, Adobe Systems Inc. joins hosts Scott Sheppard, Gene Gable, and Jay Nelson to explain the latest features for designers in Adobe Creative Suite 4. Gene, an Adobe beta tester, feels strongly that this is Adobe’s most integrated application suite yet released since their acquisition of Macromedia in 2005. Chad confirms that this version is the most complete multi-media offering in terms of delivering a seamless, cohesive set of design tools for any creative professional.

Chad shares some anecdotes about the challenges Adobe faced in developing the integrated user interface and some of the benefits of now having an integrated UI across all components. Chad explains that their entire process from conceptualization, to testing in Adobe Labs, and final delivery have made most Adobe employees now feel like “kids in a candy store” with unlimited possibilities of integration and extensions among the platforms. A great example is Adobe Acrobat’s 9 integration of Flash technologies helping creatives develop interactive designs.

Some of the highlights include that the rendering and print engines have been integrated on the back end of the applications, what this means for designers is that now it’s easier to reliably export or output into a range of formats. Chad recently participated in the Adobe MAX 2008 North American Conference, held last week in San Francisco. He feels the key benefit of this conference was his ability to get live feedback and interact with users.

Chad also shares some tips on how the new 3D tools and overall video workflows within After Effects and Photoshop that can really open up some opportunities. Gene and Jay also open up discussions on how today’s economy can affect a designer’s ability to justify upgrading their software – Chad provides some key considerations that can expand a creatives capabilities which can not only bring them new business but open them up to new clients. Chad also explains that with the redesigned interface in Creative Suite 4, can also save time by requiring fewer keystrokes and with the tighter integration many fewer steps to accomplish the same tasks. Chad also shares a glimpse of some of Adobe’s future developments including the potential for a pay-as-you-go model currently being piloted in markets outside the U.S.

Find out more at: http://www.adobe.com, or see Adobe’s favorite social links by visiting: http://delicious.com/adobe/

For more on Jay Nelson and his Design Tools topics visit: http://www.design-tools.com

Lonn Lorenz, Acrobat Product Manager, Adobe joins hosts Scott Sheppard & Gene Gable for some tips, insight anddetails for designers about Acrobat 9 Pro.Lonn highlights that two of the most exciting new features include the ability to create interactive portfolios which can showcase your multimedia work and include native Flash .swf files to interact within PDF documents. He also discusses the updated http://www.acrobat.com site which enables many interactive and online features of Acrobat 9, and provide a perfect place to store and share your new portfolio and work with your clients for free.

Acrobat is an integral part of any designer’s workflow, the new tools deliver an enhanced level of interactivity and collaboration with their new version. For more information visit: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

Jay Nelson joins us this week to ask Lonn some questions about the inherent problems between design applications and workflow issues relevant to upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5. Leopard may be fine for most users, but it still isn’t ready for designers even with the most recent 10.5.4 update. Even with the long list of issues which have been addressed with each Leopard update, there are still problems that affect the graphic design community. Leopard’s printing architecture, for example, has problems that are preventing some users from accessing all of the options for their printers, which could be a show-stopper in some workflows. Lonn explains some resources available on Adobe.com that may help address these issues before upgrading.

For more information about Jay and Design Tools visit: http://www.design-tools.com.

Bob Levine, Adobe Certified Expert & “The InDesign Guy” Graphic Design & Consulting joins Inside Digital Design for some real-world examples of how designers can benefit from the new version of Acrobat 9. Bob has used Adobe tools since their inception and is truly an expert in their applied use with his clients. Bob shares some tips and insight on how the upgraded features have helped him not only in working with printers but also addressing the needs of his clients.

For more information about Bob’s work visit: http://www.theindesignguy.com/

Nancy Stevenson, Creative Director of Character Design & Mark Magner, Design Director for Sesame Workshop join hosts Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable to discuss some details on their work creating and maintaining the artwork and photography behind the licensing of the worlds most recognized children’s educational brand, Sesame Street. Nancy and Mark work with a talented team creating digital art for products, toys, publishing, animation, online games, web, mobile devices, etc. for Sesame Workshop characters.

Sesame Workshop is a non-profit organization founded to create a fun and educational content for media that helps children in over 140 countries during their earliest and most critical developmental stages. The Workshop develops programs that help children, parents, and teachers. Much of the proceeds gained from licensing and product sales goes toward creating new programs and outreach initiatives around the world.

Nancy and Mark explain that one of their greatest challenges is to take the 3D characters we know and love as “Sesame Street Muppets”, and convert them into 2D characters, icons, and images. They oversee, manage, create, and convert hundreds of characters, which are also unique and localized to fit within local cultures and markets. They develop the style, brand look, and color guidelines which are provided to their license and educational partners across the globe to ensure the characters have a consistent look in any use. Sesame Workshop recently updated their global standards to Adobe products, including PDF, EPS, and TIFF formats. Mark describes the work flow they use to communicate input to artwork submitted for approval.

Nancy & Mark also share some tips on how they stay up to date on the latest design tools and how they keep up their creativity to best target the children’s educational market. Sesame Workshop is working on many exciting new programs including a brand new website launching this August, and 3D CGI MAYA animation for a project in Nigeria.

For more information about their brand, work, projects, and mission of Sesame Workshop visit their website at: http://www.sesameworkshop.org

Design News of the Week with Jay Nelson

This week Jay shares some tips about using Adobe’s new tools and services for collaborating online at Acrobat.com. Jay provides some highlights of the new features and Gene compares the site as a “Webex” built for designers. Jay also announces the kick-off of the QuarkXpress 8 road show which is traveling across the globe in 50 cities featuring a half-day session about their latest features. Jay also shares news from MasterColors, who create Master Colors HVC Color Composer®, about their free online tutorials that can help you learn about using color more creatively in your designs.

For more information about Jay and Design Tools visit: http://www.design-tools.com.