Long before the days of Pinterest, there were very few ways for creatives -- designers, illustrators and animators -- to show off their work to a wider audience (and perhaps their next potential employer). That all changed in 2006 with Behance, a showcase platform and social network that served as a launchpad for many creatives online.  "We felt like the creative community was very disorganized," says Behance CEO Scott Belsky  "We felt like the creative community was very disorganized," says Behance CEO Scott Belsky. "When people put their work up on the Internet, it often didn't get the proper attribution and credit it deserved. The thought was, 'Let's make a platform for people to showcase and discover what's going on in the creative world.'"  Mashable spoke with Belsky on Behance's role in building the portfolio platform scene, new opportunities and a new merger with illustration and design powerhouse Adobe.  What do you think of Behance's acquisition? Let us know in the comments.  According to Belsky, Behance was founded on a simple idea: To give designers and illustrators the power to showcase their work in a clean and sharable space.  "We realized that a portfolio is not just a series of images," Belsky explains. "We think that a portfolio is made up a series of projects -- and each project tells a story."  The key to achieving this goal is, of course, the platform. With minimalistic design work and plenty of ways for users to interact with projects, Behance developed into a place where creatives in the same field can comment on each other's work -- and nab jobs in the process. On Behance, users are able to showcase a wide range of multimedia projects, including but not limited to photography, design work and even video. While Belsky says that the Behance community -- which incorporates every creative field from textile design to graffiti -- is robust, the most concentrated communities live in web design. That's not to say that Behance isn't looking at the larger cross-section and collaborations happening within the community.  Great ideas and innovation come from the intersection of creative disciplines  Great ideas and innovation come from the intersection of creative disciplines," Belsky says. "We realized we wanted to intersect all of the creative disciplines on one central platform, so the follower mechanics and the way we boost engagement and network density was really important."  And that focus has paid off. Within six years, Behance's tightly knit network of creatives has grown into a worldwide exposure platform: Just in the past 30 days, more than 32 million projects have been viewed through Behance. What's more, Behance's synergistic Job Board platform has actually helped creatives convert their showcases into actual paying gigs. Belsky says that the job board platform has been an integral part of Behance's success because users are gaining value from their exposure.  "We started collecting all the stories we heard from people who were found or had a career transformation through Behance," Belsky says. "This is what really motivates us -- seeing how many people really get jobs from this."  Perhaps it's all of this value that made Behance noticeable, because the company just inked an acquisition deal with Adobe. Belsky says that joining the Adobe umbrella is a great step for the company at large, and he's most interested in merging Adobe's software -- already a hit with creatives in all industries -- with Behance's portfolio platforms and existing social network capabilities.  "Think about how many creatives use Adobe's tools every day to create stuff," Belsky says.  The fact that there's no connection between the process of creation and how you showcase it is a major omission  The fact that there's no connection between the process of creation and how you showcase it is a major omission in the creative world right now. We want to solve that problem and I think someday we'll look back and think, 'Gosh, we used to create stuff and it wasn't connected to how you show it? That doesn't even make sense.'"  Belsky is more excited than apprehensive of the new merger, specifically because Behance has been given license to remain in its original office with its original team, rather than picking up stakes and moving out to Silicon Valley. What's more, Belsky views Adobe's support as a new step in making Behance bolder and stronger -- especially with new funding and a larger corporate structure.  "For us, the stars really aligned on this opportunity," Belsky adds. "Keeping Behance somewhat independent was really important to us."  For now, though, Behance is taking small steps to solidify their new role with the Adobe team. Thankfully, that's not stopping the company from iterating new ideas and implementing tools for their users.  "We have an incredible pipeline of stuff we're working on right now, and I think the first thing people will see in the new year is a release of new discovery capabilities for Behance: Better ways for visitors to discover creative work made in certain fields, with certain tools and in a certain location," Belsky explains. "2012 was a lot about the showcase aspect, and 2013 will be a lot about the discovery side."  Six years later, Belsky's ambitions for Behance are still as lofty as Day One: "I hope that we can connect the entire creative world and help empower careers. That's our endgame here," Belsky says.  Now, it seems that the company is closer to its dream than ever before -- and Belsky says that he can't wait for the new, more powerful Behance to emerge.  "Our thesis is: If you have a way for people to showcase their work more effectively and connect with each other, then they're going to have better careers as a result," Belsky explains. "There's all sorts of cool things we can do in the next few years that will help build upon that."  Image courtesy of Scott Belsky
How creatives show off their work has fundamentally changed since Behance entered the scene. Founder Scott Belsky shares what the future may hold.