Demibooks Composer is an app for the iPad which you can use to create animated books. It’s currently free.

I wanted to create an iPad version of my animated Christmas story which was created in Flash. I was interested to see if Demibooks was a good enough tool to create a real application for the app store.

Demibooks composer works like a desktop application. You can add pages, import images, music and sound effects, and within the application itself, on the iPad, create simple scripts, scale and position assets, and create animations using series of images. I found it quite easy to get into using Demibooks Composer. However, it does have some issues.

First of all, creating content on the iPad takes some getting used to. You will find the screen feels quite small if you are used to working in a desktop environment. As you work with the software, however, you get used to the small size and workflow gets better. Choosing, selecting, moving and positioning images and animations can be hard to do with a degree of exactness. Luckily, there is an undo/redo function that will save you when you mess things up.

A great thing is that you can preview your work directly in the composer application. Composer then simulates what the finished app will look like with only a small icon in the upper right corner to signify it is a preview. The preview has some small problems with playback and stability. This is because Composer is running the entire authoring tool at the same time its running the preview. The finished app doesnt have that so it works smoothly. But working on a first generation iPad I had some crashes and bugs.

The guys at Demibooks tells me these issues will get better in a coming version of the software. But as the end result worked so well, it doesnt really matter.

The animating and scripting tools feel a bit 1.0. But this is because it really is. Version two, which is on the way, has many new features and tools. In this version of Composer, you can’t ease animations, which makes them a bit clunky. You can set the volume of a track lower, but you can’t fade it out. You can create looping backgrounds with advanced scripts, you can’t just set it to loop.

All these limitations aside, Composer is a game changing tool. If you’re looking to create any sort of book with animations there is really no reason why you shouldnt use Demibooks Composer to do it. It has most everything you could need creating an interactive book, including a physics engine, draggable assets, spinners, and 16 channels of audio. And that is only in the first version.

The book you create you can export through dropbox or iTunes as a complete file. This file can be used for backup or shared with someone else who has Composer on their iPad.  This means a team of people can work on the same book, which is a great feature.

When your book is done, you send your file to Demibooks using a service they call Printshop. They charge you a sum of money to compile the file into a finished app that you submit to Apple in the usual way using your own Apple Developer account. I used their DIY plan which is 499USD for a book. They generate a preview build which you can test on your iPad so you’ll see exactly what your app will look like and how it will behave. Since  preview playback has some performance issues, this is an important feature.

All through the creation process, the staff at Demibooks have been attentive and extremely helpful on their support forums. 

All in all, I am very happy with Demibooks Composer. I think this is a great tool that can be used for all sorts of applications, not just animated childrens books. The possibilities are endless. For me as a designer, I have been dreaming of a tool that will let me create content for this platform in the same way as Flash used to do. I never thought it would come in the form of an app that you actually run on your iPad.

It took me about three weeks to put together my Christmas story, and about one week to get it reviewed and approved by Apple. If you are interested, go take a look at it. I hope it will get you into a holiday mood.

These last few weeks it occurred to me that although I had an excellent idea about what I do and what my skills are, that information was really not accessible to the general public, unless they felt like digging deep on this blog and my woefully un-updated flash website. And so i turned my eyes on an old pet project of mine, creating a portfolio site at http://uberlancer net.

Well, here it is, now, in all its glory. I used the excellent behance prosite as a basis for the site. It contains a selection of work, old, new, private and for clients, made at Ogilvy and at Grey, with just one common denominator – it is work I am especially proud of. Please take a look at it and tell me what you think.

Oh, and if you’ve come here by clicking the link to this blog from within the CV, then you are now in an infinite loop. I am so sorry about that. Good luck.

My new Curriculum Vitae.

A sad film, about a sad car. Abandoned underneath an overpass outside Stockholm, a Ford Transit Mark 1 stands waiting to be towed. It used to be a chariot of summer, with wood paneling interiors, carpeted floors, a bed, moon ports, custom rims and a skylight. Now it is an utter ruin, but it is plain to see that somebody once loved this car. I wanted to document it one last time, to the sound of Beach Boys, before it is living only in someones memory.

Made with a Canon T2i / 550D and a Sigma 30mm lens. Sorry about the shaky video, spur of the moment kind of thing.

2010 was the year of app design. I spent the year really getting my feet wet in the area of app design, user interface design, and overall app marketing strategy. I learned valuable lessons about the intricacies of the interaction with the app programmer. I marveled at the geekiness of Apples Interface Builder. I gasped at the anarchy that is Android development. I met and worked with a bunch of talented programmers. Some of them i dressed up and had them act scientists for me. Some of them wore leather coats and could simulate the movement of a meatball across a plate of pasta in no time. In 2010 I’ve accomplished a number of things I wanted to do:

• Designed applications for businesses, ad agencies, products in iOS for iPhone and iPad. Thoroughly gotten to know the Apple ecosystem for app development.
• Designed and produced a branded Android application, working on all existing Android platforms, for a top international brand.
• Designed, created and published my own app and put it up for sale on the app store. The app will be a testbed for trying different type of app marketing and measuring their effect.
• Practiced application marketing using film and social media, taking part in and becoming a finalist in the World’s Best App Competition.
• Fostering corporate culture by finally buying a Force FX Lightsaber to use in my future office. I went overboard and threw in a Darth Vader helmet with voice changer as well. They’re sitting unpacked in my apartment, now, because i need a new office filled with new colleagues. This is why I am declaring this year to be

2011 – Year Of The Colleague

To be frank: I want to work with, and close to, people like myself. Being a lone wolf Überlancer is an excellent way to make a living, but if you’re  a group, you can accomplish so much more. I want to work with cross media, cross competence creatives, who want to do great things but like me believe that only when you’re having fun, when you’re inspired, can you do your best work. Companies like Big Spaceship and IDEO and Pixar. None of which have an office in Stockholm. And having experienced two recessions while working at Grey and Ogilvy, I’ve seen firsthand that being an employee at someone else’s company may be fun in the short run, but in the end, you’re just an expendable asset like anybody else. You don’t see very many 65-year old Art Directors accepting a golden watch from a grateful employer.

So the plan is still to try and create something of my own. Maybe together with another company. Maybe as an employee, but with a stake. I need to feel that my work goes towards building something I have a part of.

First order of business is finding a new office. Digital Labs, whom I’ve been sharing office space with, are moving on, and I’ve decided I’m not going to move with them. Last time I looked for an office, I wanted it to be a tower. This time, I want it to be roomy enough to swing a lightsaber.

Pulse News Reader is the single most iPad of all iPad apps. When Steve declared that the iPad was magical, this is what he meant. A news reader that moves like a prop from a sci-fi movie, but really, totally, absolutely works. The best way to surf news sites/blogs/twitter feeds bare none. Get it, or i will hunt you down and kick your ass.

Twitter on iPad is excellent. Here is an example of a user interface design developed to fully take advantage of a multitouch touchscreen. Once you go Twitter on iPad, you never go back.

Flipboard is kind of cool. It displays your twitter feed or facebook feed like a magazine you can flip through. As a new owner of an iPad, you’ll get a lot of “-Hmpf. What is that big thing good for anyhow?” This app shuts them right up. Especially if they are on Facebook.

iBooks is a given, and reading books on the iPad is actually really enjoyable in anything other than direct sunlight. But the iBookstore is way expensive and the selection is not what it should be. So the Kindle app is something that you need to have as well.

The thing i love my iPad most for is using it as a drawing pad. It is absolutely killer for sketches, storyboards, illustrations. I never go to a meeting without it. Brushes is the original drawing program for iPhone / iPad. It is a joy to use, and it is geared more for the sketch/casual artist. If you are more hardcore, and want to use many more tools, brushes, and layers, Sketchbook Pro is for you. A new contender is the Muji Notebook app, which is really only for sketches, but includes on-the-fly text input and graph paper with automatic rulers.

Minimal Folio is a dead simple presentation tool, but i find it works really well for on-the-fly presentations.

Comic Zeal 4 is a comic reader that can handle most every kind of comic format out there. The iPad and comics are a marriage made in heaven. I have read so many comics since i installed this app it’s not even funny. Or yes, it is.

Games: There are of course a lot of games out there, many of which are also avaliable on the iPhone. Some of them take advantage of the iPad, some are simply higher resolution copies. A few exceptions:

Osmos HD is a beautiful game, there is really nothing like it.

No, Human is a gravity/puzzle game that has style up the kazoo.

Words with friends HD is scrabble on the iPad. The ‘With friends’ style, which means that you play an online game without time restraints, is really cool.

If you have kids, there are lots and lots of games made for them. However, the iPad is a bit to big and heavy for a kid to hold by themselves, so the games need parental supervision. I haven’t really found any favorites, but mScribble is an extremely fun synthesizer that works extremely well to play together with kids in the 2-4 year range. It’s an iPhone app, but it works like a charm on the iPad.

Finally, when it comes to video, the app that you want is VLC, just like on any other platform.

The most important app i have saved for last. Through genius design, space-age technology and divine presentation, the Sympathetic Ear app is a reason to buy an iPad in itself. Or at least it will be, when you press the ‘like’ button next to it on the voting page.

So the days went, and it was time for voting. Earl was excited. However, pretty soon we started seeing Earl change. His normal, happy demeanor changed to being quiet for long periods of time, subdued. After a few days he stopped shaving and looked tired. Nothing seemed to make him laugh anymore.

Naturally, we were concerned. At first, we thought he was having a bad day. Anybody can have a bad day. But then day became days, and soon it had been a whole week. And Earl was getting worse, not better.

It turned out that Earl had not gotten the support from his friends he was hoping for and expecting. After four days of voting, he has only gotten 22 votes. To put that in perspective, the leader in the competition is now at 153 votes and rising fast. As it stands now, Earl won’t even place in the top ten needed to come before the jury and have a shot at winning.

I am afraid for Earls mental health. He’s just sitting there, staring out the window. He’s not himself. He’s not even sympathetic anymore, just pathetic. I can’t stand to see him this way. I can’t understand why this had to happen. Is it because Earls friends don’t understand the voting system? It’s pretty obtuse:

Designed by Scientists! Yes, that is a quote from Kick-Ass.

The guy at the hardware store looked a bit nervously at me. I had just bought what could only amount to a serial killer outfit. Paper coveralls, face masks, latex gloves. And there was this psycho gleam in my eye as well. But i was not about to go all Dexter Morgan on someone, i was just feeling more inspired than i had in a long time. The guys to thank for that are World’s Best Bars together with web agency Great Works. They are hosting an app design contest in which you are to come up with the perfect app for WBB and make a movie presenting it. Just reading about the competition made me cackle with glee. I had already made one film about my virtual bartender app idea, when my pal Johan just rattled off a whole string of excellent app ideas. Sadly, I only had time to do one, and behold, it’s the beerB4wine application.

What does the app do? Oh, nothing much…. it just CURES HANGOVER. Or more to the point, prevents it from even occurring. What could be better for a network of the world’s best bars?

How does it work, you ask? Well, of course, i cannot go into the extremely complex calculations that take place, fully tapping the raw processing power of the iPad, but i can tell you that it uses an ancient formula at it’s core, which i can show you the German version of below:

“Bier auf Wein lass es sein,
Wein auf Bier dass rate ich Dir.”

Please take a moment to stop by the World’s Best App competition site and vote for my application to win.

 

After all, i think it is our responsibility to the world and future generations to cause an application like this to be created.

Ok, folks, welcome to the annual Corporate versus Art Klas smackdown. Today, we have quite the fight for you, between these two giants. In one corner, the slightly thin-haired Art Director, veteran of both Grey and Ogilvy, with almost 15 years experience of art boards, pitches, three-letter acronyms and countless cups of lukewarm espresso, the one and only Corporate Klas!

In the other corner, the paint-stained chainsmoker with horn-rimmed glasses and way, way too much cheap hair gel, a man so devoid of work ethic even other art students think he’s lazy, wearing cowboy boots and a duffel coat, the inimitable Art Klas!

These two are the antithesis of one another and yet they live in the same body! Their fight has gone on since 1971 and tonight it comes to a head! Let’s get ready to rrrrumble!

Round 1:

Ooo! Corporate Klas opens the fight with a nice, corporate website! http://www.ragnsellsmiljokonsult.se/ Lots of grey there. Looks like a full redesign of a major Swedish company, Ragn-Sells Miljökonsult AB. Nice one!

Well, Art Klas is reeling, and who can blame him. That is a corporate website, right there. Solid professional. Corporate Klas has really brought the pain. Let’s see what the paint-smeared one does to get out of this corner.

Round 2

Whoa! Is that… what is that? It’s a website devoted to finding the muppets hidden all around us? Oh, my god, it is. http://hiddenmuppets.posterous.com Look at Corporate Klas. He’s gone pale as a sheet.

Well people, that is pretty far from serious business. Look’s like classic Art Klas. Not making anyone any money, and involves sticking muppet eyes to public places and snapping pictures. It’s even open for anyone to contribute.

So what do you say, who wins this first bout? Looks like an even match to me. Tell me what you think!

Working as a designer / art director, i have always had the need for a decent still camera for my daily work, and the desire to be able to produce video as well. A few years back, i jumped on the chance to buy Sony’s first HD capable camcorder, which set me back quite a bit but i considered it worth it if i could produce video with that professional, cinematic look i craved for my projects.

Turns out that HD really only means a higher definition of the same video quality you get from any camcorder. I guess i should have figured that one out for myself, but, well there you go.

It was recently i started noticing the video samples coming out of video capable DSLR:s, like the Canon EOS 5D mark II and the Canon EOS 7D. I realized that this was the kind of video i had been after all along. I had almost convinced myself to buy a EOS 7D  - way to expensive for a still camera, but i figured that if it took super video as well, then… – when reviews started coming in for the Rebel t2i / EOS 550D. Way cheaper than the 7D, but with pretty much the same video capabilities. Having almost convinced myself that i needed a pro camera for my work, the 550D felt like a bargain.

I bought the camera, took some test video with the kit lens, and…. meh. Video, sure, but nothing special.

Disheartened, i felt that i again had dropped a load of money on a piece of equipment that didn’t somehow magically transform me into a master videographer. A few days later, i stumbled on a blog that flatly stated that people who bought a Canon DSLR and not picked up the excellent 50mm 1.8 lens were just plain stoopid. And so, natuarally, i bought myself this piece of glass in a cheap plastic housing. Affixed it to my camera, and… magic. The light, the depth of field, the vibrance… oh my. The only way to travel.

So now i have a new gadget fetish. I’m now a burgeoning glass addict. I’ve borrowed a 30mm Sigma 1.4 lens and the kit lens is now gathering dust in a corner.

Now to combine it with the Glidecam 2000 rig i already own, i have the capability to create some nice panning shots, given that i can master the finicky balancing of the camera.

Another must-have accessory is the Gorillapod DSLR with which you can create a tripod out of whatever is handy. Unlike the Glidecam, which is way bulky, the Gorillapod is eminently portable.

It’s starting to become clear that all the tools i need to create the level of video quality i want are available to me now. Which means I only lack the time and talent to make kick-ass movies.