You know how most musicians are disgusted by song creation apps that use algorithms and generic input to create a song or chord progression, lol right? I know i do no offense… Well i need something similar for graphic design just so i can have cover art to go with songs or mixes that i upload. I reached for help in a forum once and someone did something for my debut EP but they asked for a donation which i happily obliged cause i liked his work but i never made the money back and plus that was the one exception when i did sell something. Normally i just upload content for free and most of my work has no art.
I’m just looking to make eye-candy with the rendering already compatible for stuff like sound-cloud or youtube. I’m sorry for being so ignorant about visual art. I tried a few ios apps already such as Sketchbook express, Crayons, and Neudraw, but i’m not creative enough to fabricate something to completion with those :-[
Not an iOS app but I’d take a look at https://www.behance.net Talented visual artists galore on this board and usually they are open to collaborations. Artwork on two of our band’s singles feature paintings made by artists I stumbled upon on behance. They did not ask for donation, just their creative monikers be credited wherever possible. Mutual benefits, so to speak. Anyways, just my 2 cents.
look up fractals, several apps for that from 2D to 3D (several free), and there’s one particularly nice pay one called Frax that gives you a lot of control over the design elements. It also lets you buy credits to render rather larger ones on their server farm if you need/want to.
On the using the camera tip, Fragment lets you take really cool ‘fragmented’/shattered looking pictures with controls over the fractures, colors, tinting, shadows, etc. I used a pic made with it for my avatar for awhile (the light blue fragmenty one I had before this one, which is a nebula filter from Filter Forge).
On the computer, Apophysis 7x is really nice, and free. Filter Forge is less free, but has some amazing filters for the… graphically challenged >.>
Photoshop Touch for iOS can do work, too, but there is the free PixlrExpress from Autodesk that does a lot.
Playing around with Frax ($4 for iPhone, $6 for iPad iirc…) and then processed with PixlrExpress (free). Purple is the Pixlr one. Just to give you an example of what’s possible with little expense.
+1 to just taking pictures. For example, I did this one on my dad’s dslr, but that doesn’t really matter, because it was just on full auto mode anyway (I don’t know any photography technique) so an iphone is pretty much equivalent now.
Then just adjusted brightness and contrast, you can do that in Preview on a mac.
One more, different method. Took a picture of a bunch of clutter on my deal at work with the Fragment app, $2 iirc, sometimes free, then ran it through Pixlr. It’s like sample mangling for visual arts lol…
Def will check that site @jooga1972 thank you. I will remember to credit their names should i use them. Great idea should an album ever come of me in this life time! @masterofstuff ha thanks for the disclaimer. Photography has crossed my mind in the past but the only photo art i’ve ever found appealing were the guys using pinhole cameras or taking photos on expired film. i love appreciating the work resulting from that medium but don’t have the passion to get my hands dirty in that fashion. Instagram is indeed cool looking @tribrix and will def use it as part of a bigger process. @beefinator , although no effects your photo is a great composition and results from great visual creativity imho. I simply lack the ability to think ahead with visual art as i do with music.
@krism , i spent a couple hours today messing around with both frax and fragment. FrAx is awesome to zone out to when animated but too abstract for my taste as an end result.
But Fragment on the other hand seems right up my alley! I love that element of minimal surrealism, especially if implementing the other associated apps. I have messed with quite a few apps in the past involving shapes or photo importing and i really love the way this person incorporates the two together, especially with rerendering. It’s the first time i had fun and didn’t feel overwhelmed. Thank a million for that @krism !
So it seems i finally found a method and it is using everybody’s suggestiong in here:
take photo (using instagram filter if desired)
process with one or more combinations of Pixite apps
add text with something like what @spacetravelmadeeasy suggested, except i don’t have a computer anymore spacetravel. Any suggestions for a simple utility app so that i may add text and ensure i can render to different dimensions/file extentions according to different websites?
Pixlr lets you add text, too @Blipsford_Baubie. If you’re on an iPad, it seems bugged right now, you have to rotate to landscape to see the text stuff. You can scroll to it on the iPhone one.
One of the best ways is to have the text be physically “in” the photo when you take it, a sign or something to indicate the title and artist. Works especially well if you later run effects on the whole image.
@Blipsford_Baubie I can do a few for you pro bono if your interested and don’t have access to the Adobe suite. I did our banner- ^^ (rough around the edges) I like playing around with hand drawings which get sandwiched in with typography and texture. I’ve actually shot several roles of expired 120 film (medium format) with my Mamiya if your looking to add those in too.
