For quite a while now, I’ve been using the Affinity graphics suite in place of Adobe’s offerings. They don’t replace every function I use regularly, especially at my job, but they’ve proven to be good enough for my personal work. As these applications have been updated, and with the recent release of Affinity Publisher, they do seem to be quickly becoming complete replacements for some of Adobe’s offerings.
Below are some of my thoughts, from the perspective of someone who currently works in printing.
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The klexans are an amphibious mammalian species capable of holding their breath for long periods of time underwater. They mastered space flight and established colonies on other worlds within their system before developing their first microprocessor.
One such planet they colonized was the Center World, the fourth of seven planets. Another intelligent species already inhabited this world, but they were technologically outmatched by the klexans.
Their home planet is still divided into many different states, with each colony on another world being owned by one nation or another. As as result, their outposts were often torn apart in the squabbles between the states as they desired more control.
The astakid are crustaceans native to Center World, or Elben, as they know it. At the time of first contact with the klexans, they were building their first factories and mass producing their own tools.
They are born from egg clutches, with each one having as many as fifty siblings. A majority of them are female, and they live in large clans, as they watch over each other’s children.
Although they were initially outmatched by the invading klexans, they managed to take back lost territory through overwhelming numbers, while also taking advantage of the infighting between Yuket-Ko’s nations. Eventually, the astakid clans forced the aliens to sign a treaty, limiting their claim to a chain of islands in the northern hemisphere.
The humans come from the far away planet of Earth, somewhere off in a distant galaxy called the Milky Way. While they didn’t develop space ships to the same degree that the klexans did, their information technologies were far beyond what any other species had even imagined possible.
Some years after the Astakid Rebellions, the klexans picked up on a mysterious signal originating from outside their star system. Seeing the potential in communicating with another species, the signal was reverse engineered and replied to. Now, humans are brought to the Belten system via cloning and memory transfer, the only space travel method that manages to be “faster than light” so far.
On Center World, the humans are allowed to inhabit the cities built on the island chain secured by the Klexan-Astakid Agreement. 
Through 2016, I’ve found myself working harder and creating more. Ever since participating in Inktober for 2015, I found the drive to keep drawing constantly. Over summer, I changed jobs and now I create illustrations full time. Despite geopolitical events, I’ve seen my own life change in positive ways through art.
For 2017, I hope to encourage other artists to find their own drive to keep working.
Now, more than ever, it’s important to be loud. It’s important to create what interests you, even if it seems like no one else cares. We’ve lost too many well known artists & beautiful people this past year, and it’s important we fill the void.
If you’re still here, I’m glad to have you. Let’s keep going. 
