A family member and fellow creative, Amanda Sayles of “Some Beautiful Things,” recently turned me on to Paper by 53. I was instantly hooked. I love to draw and write and well, this app allows for both.
The opening demo video shows you exactly how to use Paper by 53. That made my first thoughts easy to get down on “paper?” It’s not really paper, but it looks like the pages of a journal. A digital journal, you could say. You can customize the covers of as many journals as you want to open with photos or sketches. My first sketch was of our cat, “Scare-D” who often sits with me in bed while I read. Since then, I’ve drawn our dog, Mona, some flowers and started a journal about my son, Ben.
One thing I really like about Paper by 53 is the availability of different tools, which is an additional charge, but worth the investment. You can sketch, shade, draw outlines, etc. and that makes the creative time more fun. I find myself relaxing at night with my iPad and just drawing or writing whatever comes to mind. I also discovered that you can buy a stylus to use instead of your fingers and well, that’s definitely my next purchase. Finger painting is fun, but it’s hard to get very detailed.
I think this app is great for graphic designers because they can sketch out a bunch of ideas for the design challenge they’re facing and then share with their internal team before actually creating the design on computer. Of course, everyone in our Creative Department would need an iPad in order to make that a reality. Could be grounds for our next technology purchase!
