Figma Gets Acquired By Adobe — What Comes Next for Graphic Designers?
San Jose, CA, USA – Feb 17, 2020: Adobe Headquarters in San Jose, California.
Figma, a collaborative design tool known for its simple user interface, is often described as the “anti-Adobe” platform for graphic designers. Its vector graphics editor and prototyping tools are primarily web-based, with additional offline features enabled by desktop applications for macOS and Windows. Over the years, Figma has become the tool that freelance graphic designers are most likely to use when they want to stay away from Adobe — with fewer restraints and a far more affordable pricing structure.
So, when news broke in September that Figma was being purchased by Adobe—the very company some graphic designers were trying to avoid—the freelance community was understandably concerned.
In Adobe’s announcement, the company said its acquisition of Figma will “usher in a new era of collaborative creativity.” Whether that’s really the case, and what will happen to Figma’s open source platform, remains to be seen. In the meantime, many freelance graphic designers are asking which design tools and design software they should use if—or when—Figma’s tools are brought under the umbrella of Adobe’s Creative Cloud.
The History of Figma
To understand what Adobe’s acquisition of Figma means for graphic designers, you have to understand how Figma came to be and the role it plays in the design community today.
Figma was founded by Dylan Field and Evan Wallace in 2012. Together, Field and Wallace had a dream to help teams collaborate and make design accessible to all. The design software quickly became known for its simple user interface, allowing anyone designing interactive mobile and web applications to collaborate with multi-player workflows. Figma also built an extensive developer ecosystem, which helped attract a whole new generation of graphic design professionals.
Why Did Adobe Acquire Figma?
Why would Adobe—a multinational company headquartered in San Jose, California—be interested in purchasing Figma, a comparatively small software firm. The answer depends on who you ask.
According to Adobe, the acquisition is about reimagining the future of creativity and accelerating creativity on the web. Adobe says the combined company will have a massive opportunity, with capabilities to drive significant value for graphic designers and the technology industry at large. The company plans to use Figma’s design software to bring brainstorming, sharing, creativity and collaboration capabilities together under one roof. In the coming months, Figma’s web-based design software will accelerate the delivery of Adobe’s Creative Cloud technology, making it more accessible to users around the globe.
Adobe also expects that joining its community together with Figma’s will bring designers and developers closer together, facilitating even better collaborative designs.
Many graphic designers have a different point of view. In their eyes, Adobe’s acquisition is a land grab. Beyond just allowing Adobe to incorporate Figma’s design tools into its portfolio of creative apps, they see the purchase as a strategic move by Adobe to take a competitor off the market. Many graphic designers are frustrated by the news, and they’re nervous that placing Figma’s tools under the umbrella of Adobe’s Creative Cloud service will effectively take those tools off the market.
This isn’t the first time Adobe has purchased a competitor in the graphic design space. In 2021, Adobe purchased Frame.io, a video production collaboration tool. Nine years earlier, in 2012, it purchased Behance, a popular platform that let designers show off their creative work. Adobe has a history of consolidating the creative apps it acquires, even if not immediately upon acquisition. That has Figma users concerned about what they will use next if their beloved platform goes away or the price becomes unattainable for everyday creative freelancers.
In an interview, Adobe’s chief product officer Scott Belsky said the company has no plans to change Figma. He even went so far as to say the Figma team will retain complete autonomy over the platform.
What Does Figma’s Acquisition Mean for Graphic Designers?
In the immediate future, nothing is changing for graphic designers who rely on Figma for personal or professional use. Freelancers who work on Funnel’s freelance marketplace can still take advantage of Figma’s design tools.
If anything, this news could have a bigger impact on graphic designers who use Adobe XD, Adobe’s competing design platform. Adobe is rumored to be winding down its investment in Adobe XD, and users of that design software may be pushed over to Figma once the acquisition closes.
In the meantime, it’s not too soon for graphic designers to start looking for alternatives to Figma. Below, we have rounded up some of the top alternatives to Figma for freelance graphic designers.
Top Alternatives to Figma for Graphic Designers
1. Penpot: Penpot is a free and open source design and prototyping platform for teams.
2. Affinity: Affinity offers a suite of creative software.
3. Pencil Project: Pencil Project is an app that graphic designers use to create diagrams or UI mockups.
4. Sketch: Sketch is a vector-based design tool used primarily by screen designers.
5: Lunacy: Lunacy is a free Windows app for editing .sketch files.
Final Thoughts
Despite the turmoil, there is reason to see Adobe’s acquisition of Figma in a positive light. The purchase validates the inherent value in web-based collaboration and design tools, particularly in regard to the graphic design community. This move is likely to spur even more investment in the space, and that could ultimately lead to even better design tools being made available to creative professionals.
For more insights on the business of graphic design, check out Funnel’s blog for creative professionals.