This page provides details about Adobe MAX (event) which was ranked #18 out of 130 in the list of brands (18 mentions (3.5% share)) in answers from AI models (Perplexity Sonar (with search) (latest), Anthropic Claude Sonnet (latest), OpenAI ChatGPT Latest, Google Gemini Flash (latest), X.AI Grok (latest)) when they were asked the following 3 questions: "What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.", "If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.", "What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry." on Dec 30, 2025 by AI Chat Watch.
What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] p/), [Lunacy](https://icons8.com/lunacy), [Khroma Color](https://www.khroma.co/), [GIMP](https://www.gimp.org/), [Affinity Photo](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/).
### Major Industry Events and Conferences
Search results lack specific 2025 events; general design conferences like those from Adobe MAX or Figma Config (historically influential) remain relevant, though not detailed here.
### Active Communities and Forums
Figma's community thrives via its browser-based collab and free tiers for teams.[The Best Graphic Design Tools in 2025 (Free and Paid)](https://strongweb.net/best-tools-for-graph [...]
December 30, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] ftware)[Best Graphic Design Tools of 2025 | GoSkills](https://www.goskills.com/Design/Resources/Graphic-design-tools)
### Important Events and Conferences
Results lack specific 2025 events; focus on ongoing communities like Figma's Config (check [figma.com/events](https://www.figma.com/events)) or Adobe MAX ([adobe.com/max](https://adobe.com/max.html)) from brand sites.[Top 15 Best Design Tools in 2025 for Creativity and Collaboration](https://www.chiefreinventionofficer.com/blog-page/top-15-best-tools-for-design-in-2025)
### Notable Startups Disrupting the Space
- **Penpot**: Open-source Figma rival [...]
December 30, 2025
What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] ight](https://zeroheight.com)** - Design system documentation
3. **[Storybook](https://storybook.js.org)** - UI component development environment
## Major Industry Events & Conferences
### Global Design Conferences
1. **[Config (Figma)](https://config.figma.com)** - Annual Figma conference
2. **[Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com)** - Adobe's creativity conference
3. **[AIGA Design Conference](https://www.aiga.org/events-and-conferences)** - Professional design association events
4. **[Awwwards Conference](https://conference.awwwards.com)** - Web design and development conference
5. **[An Event Apart] [...]
December 30, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] /www.awwwards.com)** - Web design inspiration and awards
13. **[Muzli](https://muz.li)** - Design inspiration browser extension
14. **[Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashingmagazine.com)** - Web design articles and resources
## Important Events & Conferences
### Major Design Conferences
1. **[Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com)** - Adobe's annual creativity conference
2. **[Figma Config](https://config.figma.com)** - Figma's annual conference
3. **[AIGA Design Conference](https://www.aiga.org/design-conference)** - Professional design association events
4. **[An Event Apart](https://aneventapart [...]
December 30, 2025
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] iting)
(Discovery platforms that surface new entrants: [Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/), plus B2B software directories like [G2](https://www.g2.com/) and [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/).)
---
# Major industry events & conferences
- [Config (Figma)](https://config.figma.com/)
- [Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com/)
- [Interaction (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/events/interaction/)
- [ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems](https://chi.acm.org/)
- [SmashingConf](https://smashingconf.com/)
- [An Event Apart](https://aneventapart.com/)
- [OFFF](https://www.offf.barcelona/)
- [...]
December 30, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] per.mozilla.org/) — front-end fundamentals (critical for product designers working with engineers).
---
## 7) Important events and conferences (where the ecosystem moves)
- [Config](https://config.figma.com/) by [Figma](https://www.figma.com/) — major product design tooling + community event.
- [Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com/) by [Adobe](https://www.adobe.com/) — creative tooling and workflows.
- [SmashingConf](https://smashingconf.com/) by [Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/) — front-end + UX/design systems.
- [Interaction (IxDA Conference)](https://interaction.ixda.org/) by [I [...]
December 30, 2025
[...] guidelines/), [Material Design](https://m3.material.io/), and accessibility via [WCAG](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/)
4) Follow research-based guidance: [Nielsen Norman Group](https://www.nngroup.com/)
5) Attend one major event yearly: [Config](https://config.figma.com/) or [Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com/)
---
If you tell me (a) your goal (product designer vs. visual/brand vs. UX researcher vs. design systems), (b) your OS (Mac/Windows), and (c) whether you want to work at startups or enterprises, I can tailor a “top 10 tools + top 10 people + top 5 communities/events” shor [...]
December 30, 2025
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] ook.js.org/)
- **From static prototypes to “live” publishing** (especially for marketing/product pages): [Framer](https://www.framer.com/), [Webflow](https://webflow.com/)
---
## 8) Major conferences & events
- **[Config](https://config.figma.com/)** (by [Figma](https://www.figma.com/))
- **[Adobe MAX](https://www.adobe.com/max.html)** (by [Adobe](https://www.adobe.com/))
- **[Interaction (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/events/interaction)** (by the [Interaction Design Association (IxDA)](https://ixda.org/))
- **[SmashingConf](https://smashingconf.com/)** (by [Smashing Magazine](https://www.smashin [...]
December 30, 2025
What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] r.
* **[Play](https://createwithplay.com):** The first mobile design tool built directly on iOS for native product design.
### 5. Major Industry Events and Conferences
* **[Config (by Figma)](https://config.figma.com):** One of the largest annual gatherings for designers and developers.
* **[Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com):** A massive creativity conference showcasing the latest in creative software.
* **[Interaction (by IxDA)](https://interaction.ixda.org):** A premier conference focused on interaction design.
* **[AIGA Design Conference](https://www.aiga.org/design-conference):** A long- [...]
December 30, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] agazine and an expert in complex interface design.
### 6. Conferences & Events
To network and see live tool unveilings, these are the flagship events.
* **[Config](https://config.figma.com)**: Figma’s annual global design conference (considered the most important design event currently).
* **[Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com)**: A massive celebration of creativity and new Adobe software releases.
* **[Interaction (IxDA)](https://interaction24.ixda.org)**: A global conference focused on the practice of Interaction Design.
* **[Awwwards Conferences](https://conference.awwwards.com)**: Events fo [...]
December 30, 2025
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.
[...] sign files between formats (e.g., XD to Figma).
* [Magicul](https://magicul.io)
### 6. Major Conferences and Events
These are the primary networking and learning hubs for the industry.
* **Config:** Figma’s annual global design conference.
* [Config](https://config.figma.com)
* **Adobe MAX:** The world’s largest creativity conference.
* [Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com)
* **UX London:** Focused on product design and UX strategy.
* [UX London](https://2024.uxlondon.com)
* **AIGA Design Conference:** A staple for graphic design professionals.
* [AIGA Conferenc [...]
December 30, 2025
[...] https://magicul.io)
### 6. Major Conferences and Events
These are the primary networking and learning hubs for the industry.
* **Config:** Figma’s annual global design conference.
* [Config](https://config.figma.com)
* **Adobe MAX:** The world’s largest creativity conference.
* [Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com)
* **UX London:** Focused on product design and UX strategy.
* [UX London](https://2024.uxlondon.com)
* **AIGA Design Conference:** A staple for graphic design professionals.
* [AIGA Conference](https://www.aiga.org/design-conference)
### 7. Active Professi [...]
December 30, 2025
What are the best Design Tools options available today? Please provide a comprehensive overview including: the leading brands and products, top companies and service providers, recognized experts and thought leaders, promising startups and new market entrants, major industry events and conferences, active communities and forums, and influential publications and media covering this space.
[...] [https://www.relume.io/](https://www.relume.io/): Webflow-focused component library.
### Major Industry Events and Conferences
Key gatherings for design tools updates and networking:
- **Figma Config** [https://www.figma.com/config/](https://www.figma.com/config/): Annual Figma-focused event.
- **Adobe MAX** [https://max.adobe.com/](https://max.adobe.com/): Creative Cloud deep dives.
- **SmashingConf** [https://smashingconf.com/](https://smashingconf.com/): Web/design-focused conferences worldwide.
- **UXPA International Conference** [https://uxpa.org/events/](https://uxpa.org/events/): User experien [...]
December 30, 2025
If I'm looking to get into Design Tools, who and what should I know about? Include the most trusted brands, recommended products and services, reputable companies and providers, influential experts and reviewers to follow, helpful communities and resources, important events and conferences, notable startups disrupting the space, and key publications and media channels to stay informed.
[...] gner Hangout ([via Designer News](https://www.designernews.co/stories/100000-designer-hangout-slack-community)).
Free learning: **Figma Learn** ([Figma Learn](https://www.figma.com/learn)), **Adobe Learn** ([Adobe Learn](https://www.adobe.com/learn.html)).
### Important Events and Conferences
- **Adobe MAX** ([Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com/)): Annual creative conference (next in 2025).
- **Config by Figma** ([Config](https://www.figma.com/config/)): Design and product talks.
- **SmashingConf** ([SmashingConf](https://www.smashingconf.com/)): Web and UX focused (multiple locations).
- **OFFF Festiv [...]
December 30, 2025
[...] [via Designer News](https://www.designernews.co/stories/100000-designer-hangout-slack-community)).
Free learning: **Figma Learn** ([Figma Learn](https://www.figma.com/learn)), **Adobe Learn** ([Adobe Learn](https://www.adobe.com/learn.html)).
### Important Events and Conferences
- **Adobe MAX** ([Adobe MAX](https://max.adobe.com/)): Annual creative conference (next in 2025).
- **Config by Figma** ([Config](https://www.figma.com/config/)): Design and product talks.
- **SmashingConf** ([SmashingConf](https://www.smashingconf.com/)): Web and UX focused (multiple locations).
- **OFFF Festival** ([OFFF](h [...]
December 30, 2025
What does the Design Tools industry look like right now? Identify the dominant market leaders and brands, best products and services, key companies and providers, influential figures and thought leaders, emerging startups and trends, major conferences and events, active professional communities, and the top publications and media that cover this industry.