Matthew Carlson
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dreamjar.bsky.social
Matthew Carlson
@dreamjar.bsky.social
Director of UX Design - Education, Fresco & Fonts at Adobe. Sketchbook junkie and stealer of pens. Late night game designer of the tabletop rpg, WanderSquares.com! He/Him - 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Ally - #BLM
Pinned
Hello New-sky People! I’m Matthew Carlson, Illustrator by night, Design Director by day. I draw stuff for boardgames and kids’ books, and lead design for #Fonts, #Education and #AdobeFresco at Adobe. Nice to meet you!
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#illustration #design
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
Well now. This beauty has turned up. I imagine a lot of people will be spending the weekend pouring over this.
Well done to @ianmcque.bsky.social and @rossignol.bsky.social for delivering the must have book this year. #Mileships
November 19, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Layer Masks - late night doodle, you draw what shows up!
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#adobefresco #dailydrawing #illustration
November 19, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Autumn vibes (playing with colors)
#adobefresco #autumn #dailydrawing
November 18, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Shroom on the go
November 18, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Come draw some owls, trees and leaves! www.youtube.com/live/lD7LJ_S...
November 15, 2025 at 3:22 AM
The Draw-along is live! Let's draw some stuff together in Adobe Fresco! #adobelive - grab your pens and paper. We will draw owls, trees, mushrooms and other autumn-ish stuff. And we'll animate some falling leaves!
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www.youtube.com/live/lD7LJ_S...
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#adobefresco #talkingrocks #drawing #painting
From Idea to Illustration: Draw Along with a Pro
YouTube video by Adobe Live
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
💡🎨 🖼 From Idea to Illustration: Draw Along with a Pro! I'm going to do an #AdobeFresco Draw-along session on Friday at 11am PST - We'll doodle together and talk about how to illustrate your ideas.
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www.behance.net/live/videos/...
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#draw #paint #illustrate #animate #adobelive
November 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
Here is a fairy
November 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
For far too many families, the cost of childcare is driving them out of the city they love.

New Yorkers deserve to be able to afford to raise families here.
November 13, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Project Aqua is live in the App Store! map. Draw, paint, color, trace, dive into fashion design, create your own super hero or make a gallery to show off your art! Explore Project Aqua today!
apps.apple.com/us/app/proje...
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#kidsfun #creativity #fun #kidsapp
November 12, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
JUST IN: California voters have approved a ballot measure to redraw the state's congressional map to favor Democrats, marking the party's biggest victory to date in a national battle over redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.
California voters OK new congressional lines, boosting Democrats ahead of midterms
California voters have approved a ballot measure to redraw the state's congressional map to favor Democrats, marking the party's biggest victory to date in a national battle over redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.
n.pr
November 5, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
On this beautiful morning in Astoria, I cast my ballot for our city and our future.

I hope you will too.
November 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
My latest newsletter is about one of my writing pet peeves.

I *hate* it when a novel gives its main character a personal epiphany on page 300 that:

a) could have happened on page 30 instead bc it was already clear
b) is ridic embarrassingly obvious and surface-level

buttondown.com/charliejane/...
One Of My Worst Writing Pet Peeves, and How to Avoid It
Before we dive into newsletter-town, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my novel Lessons in Magic and Disaster makes a fantastic holiday gift for...
buttondown.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
I suspect that the techbros who read the SFF stories about robots rebelling decided that the moral of the story was "design them so they won't" and they think that's actually possible and desirable.
side point but the idea that if you make a human grade robot intellect it will do whatever you say without protest seems underexamined
Even if you were willing to buy that an LLM/Gen AI tool has human-like intellect, you’re still left with the fact that an LLM doesn’t NEED a job to remain alive under capitalism, but a human does.

morality-wise, surely many would agree that humans should thus be given priority for jobs due to need
November 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
It was super fun to be able to launch our new Pose feature in Adobe Fresco at MAX! Pose lets you turn ANY 2d image into a virtual puppet, so you can push, pull and animate it frame by frame. Check it out! #adobemax #adobefresco #animation
October 30, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
A halloween books cartoon for @theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
It's not about what this country can or can’t afford. It’s about priorities. [Cartoon by Jesse Duquette]
October 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
I have a very bad feeling about this...
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
#AdobeMAX 2025 is almost here! Come join my Adobe Fresco session
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Illustrate and Animate with Ease: Intro to Adobe Fresco [S6370]
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Track: Graphic Design and Illustration
Product: Fresco
Category: How To
Wednesday, Oct 29
1:30 PM - 2:30
#illustration #animation #adobefresco
October 26, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
Olle Eksell is well known for his advertising illustration, book jackets and playful packaging design. He first studied engineering and later decided to become a graphic artist. designreviewed.com/designer/oll... #olleeksell #swedishdesign #illustration #graphicdesign
October 25, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Today’s #lightbox booth demo: Pumpkin Bat! I’m playing with our new Pose feature to do the flapping animation. It’s so easy and fun!
#adobefresco #illustration #animation
October 25, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
‘Uninvited’ One of a kind static puppet sculpture. A vampire who it unable to enter without an invitation. 21.5 H x 21 W x 11 D inches. Mixed media: polymer clay, foam, wire, fabric, wood, plastic, copper, chipboard and found objects. Available if interested: www.rednosestudio.com/puppets/unin...
October 9, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
It’s hard to convey just how much Chicagoans are mobilizing against ICE. Don’t want to downplay the harm, or make it seem like a fair fight. But in neighborhoods across this city, ICE is getting chased by people blowing whistles and shouting. People are running TOWARD ICE to protect their neighbors.
October 22, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
I lived with my dad when I was very young and he didn’t apply for food stamps or free school lunches, though we qualified.

So, I went hungry. It was awful. I begged neighbors for saltine crackers. I can say it was the worst time of my life.

Children shouldn’t go hungry. Restore SNAP benefits.
October 22, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Matthew Carlson
Good morning! Shhhh. Karl is still sleeping
October 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM