Ask people about the key to their successes and they'll often reply with quips like "I never forgot where I came from" or "I remember what it was like when I grew up", or "I owe those who helped me get started". At the same time, we all know how sometimes, things are seemingly overlooked - where credit is given to one person when maybe someone else was really the driving force behind the success.
Illustrator was Adobe's first shrinkwrap software, and along with PostScript, helped Adobe be a part of what would become an industry-changing event with the advent of Desktop Publishing. Yet as someone who has pretty much spent a lifetime standing by Illustrator, I've always felt that Illustrator somehow was always overshadowed by applications like Photoshop, Flash, or Acrobat. There are obvious reasons for this, and as I get older myself, it's easy to see that the younger kids are "cool" and get all the attention.
However, I always thought that Adobe, as a company, would always recognize the fact that Illustrator played a large part in the success of the company - and that Illustrator still plays a large part of that success today. Well, I was in for a shock when I happened upon a document on Adobe's website today. The document is entitled "Adobe Fast Facts" and can be found on the About Adobe part of the company's website. The document, two pages in length, gives a quick synopsis of the company. In a section labeled "Flagship Products", Illustrator is a no-show. In fact, the Illustrator product isn't mentioned anywhere in the document at all.
Don't get me wrong - if Adobe's intention was to list a few "flagship" products, I'd be fine with that. But included in this list of "flagship" products are Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash, and Dreamweaver. Do you really mean to tell me that Illustrator isn't "flagship" enough to be included in that list? Especially when you consider that Illustrator was influential in those applications being on that list at all? Illustrator is practically in every suite that Adobe sells. That isn't flagship?
I'm just sayin'.
Where's the respect? SIGH.