"The demand in the field is crazy – it's a very strong career path," says Adobe's senior director of 3D

This is a great time to upskill to 3D, whether you're new to design or making the transition from 2D to 3D. This is according to François Cottin, Senior Director of Marketing, 3D at Adobe, who told me there is "crazy" demand in the field for 3D artists and designers right now. 

This is mostly due to how far reaching the application of 3D actually is. Of course, there are films and games, which involve flashy 3D art skills on a massive scale, but 3D is actually all around us in a way that demands hoards of skills artists, and many people don't realise it. 

"What some people don't realise is that a lot of what you see today is built using 3D techniques," said Cottin. "And it doesn't have to feel 3D or to be experienced that 3D in the end, but a lot of pictures are renders."

It's easier and more flexible to work in 3D than take real-life pictures, he explains, because it's so much simpler to tweak elements when working in 3D. "You can have different colours on different models, you can have the winter version and you can have the summer version," he says, "you don't have to shoot everything three times." 

Since ecommerce is the future, and near-to-eye display is advancing and providing a massive opportunity for brands, demand for these skills will grow throughout content creation industries, whether it's for a billboard or a piece of furniture on an online store.

I spoke to Cottin at Adobe MAX 2023. See all of Adobe's MAX announcements here, and catch up with my interview with another Adobe exec who explained how "creativity is innately human, even in the midst of all the AI updates.