Behind every great creative experience is a team obsessed with making creativity feel joyful, intuitive, and accessible.
Today, we’re spotlighting Matthew Carlson, the director of product design who’s helping shape Aqua into a space where kids can jump in, experiment, and create freely. From selecting digital brushes inspired by Adobe Fresco to thinking deeply about how kids learn through play, his work is rooted in one big idea: helping kids hold onto their creativity.
We talked about his path into design, the philosophy behind Aqua, and why imagination matters at every age.
How did you get into this field?
Drawing was my favorite activity growing up and my favorite thing to do now. My first memory was drawing with crayons in a high chair. I didn't actually learn about design until after college when I discovered the field existed while interning at a small agency in Seattle. I thought, wait, I can make art and get paid for it? I went straight back to art school.
What's different about designing experiences for kids?
Things need to be clear, simple and delightful. Kids don't want lessons to learn an app or Quickstart guides. They want to learn by doing. Our job is to move everything non-essential out of the way so they can jump in and create.*What's a tiny detail in Aqua that you're really proud of?**
I worked closely with our product lead, Peppe Ragusa, to select the best digital brushes from Adobe Fresco, our drawing app, and bring them into Aqua. The oil brush and watercolor brush are amazing. We wanted to give kids the highest quality drawing and painting tools to make art with.
What do most people not know about design?
Most people don't know that they are designers too. Design at its core is creative problem solving. People employ their design mind when they are making a flier for a school picnic, organizing an event or planning a trip. Design is about people interacting with products and services in space and time. Unlike pure art, design almost always has an audience in mind and a problem that needs to be solved. The audience for Aqua is kids (and their parents). The problem we're solving is how to keep kids creative through middle school. Every kid starts out creative. We want to help them hold on to the spark.
What design hill would you die on when it comes to Aqua?
We want to keep kids creating art central to the Aqua experience; that comes first above all. Although we want to branch into storytelling and some game-like interactions in the future, it always starts with their art.
How do you practice creativity outside of work?
I illustrate children's books. My first book is called "Talking Rocks and Minerals" and explores the hidden backstories of rocks and gems. I'm working on the next book in the series right now. The topic is still under wraps. I also design games and launched a tabletop role-playing game for kids called WanderSquares. I illustrated the book and designed the game while at Adobe. Almost everyone here has a creative hobby that feeds into their day job.
What advice do you have for kids (or grown-ups) who want to do what you do?
For Grown-ups: Have passion projects that you can chip away at, ones where you can break a big goal down into small achievable chunks. It took me 4 years to design the game (I did everything myself) and I didn't illustrate my first children's book until I was 54, although it was a lifetime goal. Everything finally fell into place.
For Kids: Create something every day, whether you love to draw or doodle, take pictures, make little videos, write poems or imagine worlds. Keep a notebook with you and capture all your crazy ideas. Get your creativity out into the world by any means necessary. And don’t let anyone discourage you. Your imagination is one of the most special things about you.
One thing I hear again and again from folks at Adobe is that creativity doesn’t stop when work ends: it continues through books, games, painting, storytelling, and passion projects.
We’re grateful to have people building Adobe Aqua who care so deeply about helping kids create, explore, and stay connected to their imagination.
Because every kid starts out creative, and we want to help them keep that spark alive ✨
Create for FREE on Aqua by Adobe!