Adobe Premiere 7 Identity / 2003

I left Adobe and founded design:unknown in 1996, but I continued to freelance for Adobe during that time. In 2003, the Premiere product was still using the horse motif I had originated for the 4.0 release. However, the identity had strayed off course, with the illustration bogged down with interface references, poor compositing, and lackluster photography. Determined to elevate the horse into a cinematic hero worthy of such a powerful tool—one aiming for a comeback in film and video—I enlisted RJ Muna (whom I had previously worked with on the Adobe Gallery Effects image) to photograph this majestic creature on Limantour Beach in Northern California. It was a breezy, perfect day, and the magnificent horse put on a show, galloping up and down the beach, reveling in the Pacific, while RJ captured her beauty.

Hero

Tail and mane

After selecting the best shots, I illustrated the symbols, reintroduced Muybridge and the film sprockets referencing the original Premiere 4.0 image, and spent hours fine-tuning the composition. The blue image for Premiere 7 became the first release of Premiere Pro.

Building on the same base file, I created a sunrise setting to shape the image for Premiere Standard—an interpretation I find even more evocative and impactful.

Credits

Concept, illustration, compositing: John Caponi

Photography: RJ Muna Pictures

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