Today, the world has yet again proved that there’s a lot out there that happens which is still very unpredictable. Like a new iPhone pill and the worst news for many designers this weekend, Adobe’s plans to acquire Figma.
The internet, characteristically, reacted with memes, arguments in threads, and comments, and many popular designers have spoken out about what the future may look like for Figma and the designer community.
Dylan Field, Co-Founder & CEO of Figma, announced on 15 September 2022 that “Figma has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Adobe”.
And this isn’t something that happened overnight like a Bruce Wayne buying a bank to help out his friend Superman. “This has been in the words over the past few months,” Field said. However, it did cost a deal that Bruce Wayne would make. $20 Billion!
The deal is half cash and half stock in nature, confirmed by an earlier Bloomberg report. This might just be one of the biggest takeovers of a software company, but regardless of this Adobe’s share in the premarket trading dropped by 7%.
But why are designers mad about a software acquisition?
Figma is not just a designing tool that makes the process of design simple and accessible to those who can’t break the bank for design tools, but also a software that allows its customers to collaborate as they build something. This picked up popularity during the pandemic when more and more people started working remotely and were in the need of collaborating on projects from distance.
Figma has a huge user base and popular designers from companies all over the world like Google, Airbnb, and Herman Miller Inc. have been using it to work on projects, and build products, and presentations.
Figma has more functionality and affordability than Adobe’s competing software. And apart from this, the broad community of designers and developers have been contributing openly to create amazing plugins that just improve the capability of Figma.
What’s the benefit in this acquisition?
According to Figma’s CEO, “There is a huge opportunity for us to accelerate the growth and innovation of the Figma platform with access to Adobe’s technology, expertise, and resources in the creative space. For example, we will have the opportunity to incorporate their expertise in imaging, photography, illustration, video, 3D, and font technology into the Figma platform. Additionally, we will have the opportunity to reimagine what the best creative tools could look like within the Figma technology stack.”
He is also optimistic about Figma’s presence in designers’ lives across the world. “Adobe is deeply committed to keeping Figma operating autonomously and I will continue to serve as CEO,” Dylan said.
Adding more to clear up the air of disappointment and frustration that the netizens showed, he said “While we have big ambitions on the product side, many other things will remain the same for you. Our Friends of Figma program will continue spreading to new local communities.
Recognizing that we are in an unpredictable, inflationary environment, we currently have no plan to change Figma’s pricing. Finally, all of Figma will continue to be free for education. Figma’s education offering was a critical part of our conversations and Adobe is completely aligned on growing the number of designers/developers/creatives in the world.”
The Reaction
The people on the internet reacted in their own ways. Some of the most popular reactions included memes.
And some more from reddit…
Anyway, we’re hoping that Adobe isn’t going to restrict Figma and its design process, because honestly like millions of designers out there, we too, love Figma for its simplicity and accessibility. Let’s find out what the future holds for Figma in the arms of Adobe.
