Ugly Adobe Splash Screens

The Really Ugly 2015 Adobe Splash Screens
(I know, it's subjective)

What has happened to Adobe's taste in illustration?

That is the difficult question one must ask after looking at the splash screens for most of the Creative Cloud 2015 applications. (I know I'm a little late on this. Some of the images have been improved for the latest editions.)

Adobe's packages used to have some really attractive images, that showed off the product capabilities and were a pleasure to see over and over.

Now, I want to close my eyes when the programs start up. And I'm not the only one.
(I did a web search for "Adobe CC Splash Screens Suck" to start this post.)

Oh God, my eyes!

I found this site that shows all the screens and has some comments. Now, I know I shouldn't take some negative comments found on the Internet as proof of anything, except that at least some people agree with me: 

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Ugh…I just hate them. Hate them, hate them, hate them.
The AE one is cool, the Photoshop one is barely tolerable, Illustrator turns my stomach, and I would consider not updating Dreamweaver just to avoid looking at that mess. WHAT were they thinking? Trippy LSD-induced art is something everyone would love? Just. Plain. Awful. (Brandon)

bethsays:July 15, 2015 at 12:32 pm

How do you change them?!

Marcussays:
Illustrator splash screen brought me here, after nearly vomiting. Found switching instructions before the app even finished loading. 

bailsonesays:

October 6, 2015 at 3:30 pmThe most awful splashscreen Series by Adobe. Especialy Photoshop with that super ugly 25 years anniversary. using adobe for 15 years now cant remember a more awful splashscreen except for beta releases ^^ Someone must be able to change those pictures. help Pls. 

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So, back to the original question: What happened to Adobe's Taste in Illustration?

I included "Subjective" in the title above because, hey, I get it. Visual art is very hard  impossible to assess objectively. It's pretty much all pure gut reaction, personal associations, visual appetites. In many cases, art might as well be perfume, in the way people either like or don't like a certain scent, and you can't really argue with each person's preference.

That said, these splash screens are the equivalent of someone wearing a whole bottle of cheap cologne. They're just...too....much. In fact, it's almost like they were chosen by a very smart art professor who wanted his class to think about how technically competent, colorful, imaginative images could also be, well, ugly.

Dreamweaver splash screen. Swamilicious?
I even hate the colors.

Again, nothing against these artists. Not saying I could do better; I couldn't (well, I could make some innocuous abstract color-field images that I don't think would be as ugly.) These are definitely "creative" images. Was Adobe going for a more international feel? A younger vibe? Showcasing somewhat "unusual" personal perspectives? Or trying to signal that LSD is back, baby.

Adobe Illustration splash screen. Post-apocalyptic seashells?

One of those insanely complicated doodles done 

with a Bic pen during sophomore Algebra?

You also have to say something about the typography on the Photoshop splash screen. The "25 years of Photoshop" type is just another head-scratcher. Retro, mixed up, cliche, stupid, and ugly. Mixing beveled, chromed, multicolored (bruised) lettering with a 70s rounded retro balloon script is either incredibly sophisticated in an ironic, piss-off kind of way. Or really, really lame.

Maybe these images are, more than anything, an indication that Adobe software is making computer art too easy. That would be one hell of a smart marketing message by Adobe, in a way.
says: