Highlights from Adobe Summit 2025 and Ardhira Putra’s Work at Sphere Las Vegas
The Adobe Summit 2025, held from March 17 to 20 in Las Vegas, marked a pivotal moment at the intersection of creativity, marketing, and technology. Drawing thousands of professionals across the fields of design, tech, and digital marketing, the event highlighted Adobe's commitment to expanding creativity by incorporating (human) imagination with artificial intelligence.
Speaking to IT Brief Australia, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen expressed that the summit intends to celebrate today's “golden age of design,” establishing the importance of technology in creative labour. In numerous sessions and keynote addresses, Narayen emphasized that creativity is no longer confined to a select few with access to professional tools. With Adobe’s latest technological advancements, creativity has been democratised- accessible to anyone.
One of the standout programs at this year’s summit was a large-scale animated showcase at the Sphere in Las Vegas. The iconic venue was transformed into an immersive exhibition; becoming a living canvas that showcased digital illustrations of artists around the world. Ardhira Putra, who was amongst the exhibiting artists, became the first Indonesian to be featured at the Sphere and his citypop-inspired visuals captivated on-lookers. This marked an important milestone in his impressive artistic career.
In his official statement, Ardhira shared that he was invited onto the project by Cekai, a Japan-based creative agency. His animation was part of a campaign introducing Adobe’s new AI-integrated feature, Adobe Firefly. The campaign was divided into three acts: Act 1 - Inspiration, Act 2 - Human Touch, and Act 3 - Iteration Scale. “The part I created is Act 3 Iteration Scale, which demonstrated the limitless potential to scale ideas through variation and with the use of Firefly, we can create limitless creations,” said Ardhira. Cekai’s overarching concept, Electric City, tells the story of a creator painting a character, called Tiger, who is brought to life. We, then, follow Tiger's journey across the imaginative cities of New York, Tokyo, and London. As director, Ardhira translated the narrative into a vivid visual experience through character design, environment creation, storyboarding, and full animation.
For Ardhira, creating for the Sphere posed a new challenge because he has to adjust his illustrations to the building's immense, spherical design. Ardhira initially proposed a “snow globe” concept with miniature cities inside to create the experience of a fantastical urban landscapes: “We need to be able to see the buildings and graphic elements of each city, as well as the transformation of one city to another, whilst witnessing the activities of the main character,” he explained. While Ardhira was already familiar with Tokyo, he conducted extensive research to understand the architecture of New York and London and he gathered different references and insights to portray them authentically. The project also pushed him out of his comfort zone and experiment with a new color palette, where he used shades outside his typical preferences.
He designed the cities as playgrounds for Tiger, enabling his interaction with each object. “Additionally, I organize the layout to ensure a smooth flow for the animation. For example, there is a distribution of activities begins at the top, shifts to the lower left and continues towards the right. This is to ensure that there is a sense of motion that contrasts with the stillness of the city. The challenge lies in maintaining this sense of dynamism,” he said.
Ardhira Putra is a visual artist whose work is heavily influenced by 1980s and 1990s Japanese pop culture. His inspiration for citypop is evident in his vibrant colour choices and dynamic graphic styles. Growing up in Jakarta, Ardhira ignited his interest in Japanese pop culture through television, music, early internet content, comics, toys, and video games. Throughout his artistic career, he finds himself constantly returning to these mediums for creative inspiration, particularly referencing their richness in design.
Ardhira is amongst one of many creative professionals that participated in the Adobe Summit 2025. The summit successfully presented a promising vision for the future of creators. With today's increasingly advanced and inclusive technology, creators possess greater tools to bring to life their ideas; allowing its fruition to be quicker and freer. The showcase at the Sphere established an optimism for the future of art and design—envisioning greater collaboration, expansion, and imagination.
The Team:
Ardhira Putra - Director / @ardhiraputra
Gilang Bhagaskara - Producer / @gilangbh
Rani Kurniasari - Production Coordinator / @rani.kiraa
Azroi Hafidz - Character Designer / @azrhfdz
Alfonsus Andre - Illustrator and Graphic Designer / @alfonsusandre
Evan Wijaya - Illustrator and Graphic Designer / @evanwijaya95
Jeffri Honesta - Illustrator and Graphic Designer / @jeffrihonesta
Yuwanda Bagus - Lead 3D and CG Artist / @yuwa.34
Jeli - Concept 3D Artist
Vanessa Patriciawi - 3D Artist / @vnessawi
Mahdi Abizain - 3D Artist / @mahdi.abzn
Girindabrahma - 3D Modeler / @girindrabrahma
Royan Aldina - Texture Artist / @royanaldina
Res Yudikata - Rigger / @yudikata
Royes Husni - Character Animation Director / @royes__
