Abode, a satirically named startup, raises $235K in crowdfunding campaign from 3,000 artists to take on Adobe

The immense power of tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google (now Alphabet), Meta, and Microsoft is massive. Over the last two decades, these companies have asserted their dominance in various market segments all across the globe.

They wield power over virtually everyone who uses their products and services and even reshape. It’s not an exaggeration to say that they’ve even played a role in shaping the global world order to a degree where they appear almost invincible and unstoppable.

However, despite their seemingly invincible status, some courageous individuals and companies have not been deterred from attempting to disrupt these tech giants, taking on the challenge one company at a time. A standout illustration of this is Stuart Semple, a highly talented British artist, who has taken it upon himself to challenge and counter Adobe’s prevailing dominance in the creative arena.

With his remarkable set of skills, Semple decided to assemble an “amazingly passionate team of geeks” to counter the dominance of  “corporate overlords” and bring about a significant transformation in the creative industry. In Semple’s eyes, Adobe represents one such “overlord,” and his solution is “Abode,” a new satirical named Kickstarter project designed to build apps that will compete head-to-head with Adobe’s offerings and open up new avenues for creativity and expression.

“Stop paying rent for creative tools. A full creative software suite you actually own. Come in from the cold & make a new forever home.”

Initially, the project seemed almost like a jest. The Abode logo and branding had an appearance that could be mistaken for satire, which aligned with Stuart Semple’s history of using humor in his work. Semple, being a well-known figure in the public eye, had a notable altercation with artist Anish Kapoor, renowned for his creation “Cloud Gate” in Chicago, often referred to as “The Bean.” Kapoor had also obtained exclusive rights to use Vantablack, a substance considered the “blackest black” paint due to its extremely low light reflectance, for artistic purposes. This exclusivity frustrated many artists, including Semple.

In response to Kapoor’s exclusive usage, Semple took matters into his own hands and developed what he dubbed “the pinkest pink” paint, making it available for purchase to everyone except Anish Kapoor. This move was a playful yet powerful statement, highlighting the idea of inclusivity in art materials and making a stand against exclusivity in the creative world.

“It’s always been very serious, but my work is always satirical. I like to deal with serious topics in a lighthearted manner. I find humor is a great way to raise awareness for something,” Semple told the creative news site PetaPixel.

Meanwhile, Abode has just concluded its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. In just 45 days, Abode has raised £181,709, or about $234,900 from more than 3,000 artists that backed the project.

What is Abode?

According to Semple, Abode is “a new home for your creativity.” The Abode project will rely upon the “team of geeks” to build a brand-new suite of “world-class design and photography tools,” which Semple admits have an “uncanny similarity” to the tools that longtime Adobe Creative Cloud users have been “indoctrinated in.”

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

The first version of this software will be a full-beta release and will only be made available to backers.

You can expect:

• ONdesign – a familiar and fully featured Desktop publishing application
• illustrateIT – a vector drawing and illustration package, with all the bits you love using
• photoPOP – photo editing
• Impress – super-fast mobile app, full of templates.

Abode says the plan is to start work on other aspects of the suite in the future and backers will receive free lifetime updates.

Visualization for illustration purposes only – actual product will vary.

COMPATIBILITY: all the file formats you’d expect, all the color palettes you know and love.

MAC or PC. With impress working on Android or IOS

Now that the project has been funded, the time for hard work has begun. Adobe says on its Kickstarter page that the full software suite download, which includes lifetime free upgrades, will be delivered in November 2024.

“The subject is very serious, we have a cost of living crisis, we have creators being replaced by AI, and times are tough out here. The idea is to try and help a little bit by liberating the tools we rely upon. I’ve done this for decades in my other work,” Semple added.

“It went way beyond what I thought it would. I’ve been absolutely blown away by all the support from the community. I’m so grateful and happy that we get to make this dream come true,” Semple says.

While Abode may seem like a joke to some, the project has been featured in major tech news outlets including Wired, YCombinator, and our humble blog, TechStartups.