Here are 20 exceptional iPad apps for expressing yourself creatively with your iPad. Creative tools that turn your iPad into a portable, digital studio that supports you through all the cycles of the creative process. From gathering and brainstorming ideas through collecting and organizing inspiration and journaling to expressing yourself through writing, drawing, painting, photography, design, music, acting and crafting. And some play and relaxation to refill your creative well.

1. MindNode ($5.99) Beautiful and minimalist mind mapping app. A simple and effective way to brainstorm and easily map out and organize your ideas. Also available for the Mac.

[App store link: MindNode for iPad and iPhone].

2. Evernote (free) Remember everything. Build and organize your own digital scrapbook with notes, photos, links, web clips, audio and auto-synchronize to your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad and Web. Magically makes text within snapshots searchable and includes geo-location information in notes. For research, to capture design, art, writing and blogging inspiration.

[App store link: Evernote for iPad and iPhone].

3. Moodboard Pro ($4.99) and Moodboard Lite (free) Make a moodboard to visualise your ideas and jump-start your creativity. Capture a mood, feel or ambience with a collage of materials (photos, textures, sketches, text and color palettes). Easily share early design concepts with clients and colleagues to communicate your idea or use as a guide and inspiration for your own creative projects.

[App store links: Moodboard Pro and Moodboard Lite].

4. MaxJournal for iPad ($2.99). A simple and elegant diary or journal. Customize the font and size, add up to three photos per entry and password protect your journal. Features tagging, time stamping and autosave.

[App store link: MaxJournal for iPad].

5. My Writing Nook ($4.99) and $2.99 for the iPhone. Simple and powerful tool for writers. Minimalist and distraction free writing environment with easy-to-use dictionary and thesaurus. Word count and auto save. Work on your manuscript anywhere, on your iPhone, iPad or computer, synchronize and have access to the latest version for reading, writing and editing everywhere.

[App store links: My Writing Nook for iPad. Also available for the iPhone].

6. Qvik Sketch Pro ($0.99) Quick, easy, effortless sketching, doodling and drawing tool. Qvik Sketch shades or inks your sketches in real-time, creating beautifully rendered drawings. Fast and fun.

[App store links: Qvik Sketch Pro for iPad. Also available for the iPhone].

7. Adobe Ideas 1.0 (free) A simple, vector-based digital sketchbook. Capture and explore ideas on the go. Use the color scheming tool to create harmonized color palettes extracted from your photos or artwork. Email your sketches as PDF files for further editing in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. A handy tool for designers and artists.

[App store links: Adobe Ideas for iPad and Adobe Ideas for the iPhone].

8. Brushes ($7.99) A portable art studio and powerful finger painting tool for creating original artwork featuring an advanced color picker, swatches, high quality brushes, layers, extreme zooming, and a simple yet deep interface. Paintings made with Brushes have been published on the cover of The New Yorker on several occasions. With Brushes Viewer for Mac (free) you can replay your Brushes paintings stroke by stroke, render them at high resolutions for printing, and export them as QuickTime movies.

[App store links: Brushes – iPad Edition and Brushes for iPhone ($4.99)].

9. SketchBook Pro ($7.99) A versatile, elegant digital SketchBook for painting and drawing that features 75 art brushes, a smear brush, geometric shapes and a symmetrical drawing tool. Interact with SketchBook through a gesture-based multi-touch user interface.

[App store link: SketchBook Pro].

10. iMockups ($9.99) This gem of a tool will save designers countless hours by helping you to quickly create mock-ups, layouts and wireframes for your web design, iPhone and iPad app projects. iMockups includes customizable navbars, tab panels, and autofilling Lorem Ipsum text. Intuitive and beautiful interface that takes full advantage of the breakthrough touchscreen device with iPad-optimized gesture controls.

[App store link: iMockups].

11. StudioTrack ($39.99) StudioTrack is a powerful audio recording and songwriting tool for musicians and producers who want to capture musical ideas and record songs on the go. Multitrack recording with up to 8 tracks, and bounce them down to add even more. Easily apply effects such as delay, reverb, EQ, and a compressor.

[App store link: StudioTrack].

12. Korg iElectribe ($9.99) A perfectly faithful replica of the famous Korg Electribe•R analog drum machine that’s easy and intuitive to use. Features 64 preset patterns, 8 supercharged effects and advanced Motion Sequencing that make patterns come alive.

[App store link: Korg iElectribe].

13. Rehearsal (free) This professional tool for actors helps you learn your lines. Developed and tested by Hollywood actors. Highlight lines, play peekaboo to memorize your script. Record your script and play it back. Add notes and record different takes to explore your character. Download for free, get unlimited scripts for a week and then pay by the script.

[App store links: Rehearsal for iPad and Rehearsal for iPhone].

14. CameraBag ($2.99) Recreate the magic of film by emulating photography’s most beloved and iconic vintage cameras, film, and processing techniques. Easy to use with an intuitive, simple interface. The perfect companion for your iPhone photography.

[App store links: CameraBag for iPad and CameraBag for iPhone ($1.99)].

15. TiltShift Generator ($2.99) Make your photos look like they are shots with miniatures, toy camera images and fake DSLR by adding a radial blur to your photos to change the perception of depth. Move the sweet spot with your fingers and increase or decrease its size.

[App store links: TiltShift Generator – Fake DSLR for iPad and TiltShift Generator – Fake DSLR for iPhone ($0.99)].

16. Fabric Stash ($4.99) Manage, catalogue, match, track quantities and organize your fabrics with Fabric Stash. Perfect for quilters, sewers, interior decorators, fashion designers and fabric designers.

[App store links: Fabric Stash for iPad. Also available for the iPhone].

17. HandiCraft ($4.99) Quilting, knitting, crochet and embroidery on your iPad with more than 150 patterns with full instructions and HD video lessons. Features patterns and step-by-step instructions displayed in a beautiful interface.

[App store link: HandiCraft].

18. iZen Garden 2 – portable zen garden ($5.99) Tranquil, Japanese rock garden, where you can find peace and create beauty. Arrange and resize objects like stones, seashells, fossils and butterflies, rake the sand into patterns and listen to soothing, ambient soundtracks.

[App store links: iZen Garden for iPad and iZen Garden for iPhone ($3.99)].

19. Soundrop (free) Wonderfully fun and simple sound game. Tap the screen to draw lines and watch as a ball bounces off them and Soundrop creates music out of the pattern you create.

[App store links: Soundrop for iPad and Soundrop for iPhone].

20. Zen Bound 2 ($7.99) Beautiful puzzle game with gorgeous graphics and sounds. Tilt and touch to wrap and twist the shapes to solve puzzles.

[App store links: Zen Bound 2 for iPad and Zen Bound 2 for iPhone ($2.99)].

More writings about the iPad: First impressions of the iPad.

Do you have a great tips for creating a digital studio? Have you tried any iPad or iPhone apps that you found inspiring and that boosted your creativity?

Tags: apps, art, creative, creative cycle, creative process, creativity, design, digital environment, iPad, iPhone, iPhoneography, review, software

I expected the iPad to be a revolutionary device and holding it in your hands, interacting with it, really is a revolutionary experience. It’s the computer of the future.

• It’s fast!
• It’s powerful!
• It’s intuitive, responsive, easy and inviting to use
• The iPad with its multi-touch screen and single tasking is the first computer that adapts to how humans work, while other computers expect us humans to adapt to how they work
• The iPad apps I’ve tested embrace the idea of simplicity, beauty, fun and ease. Just like the iPad itself
• The iPad is the first computer I’ve used where reading really feels inviting and user friendly
• This tablet computer is wonderful for a new kind of story telling! The iPad can blur the line between reading, watching films, gaming and I can see how people could invent new ways of telling stories where images, film, audio, text and interactive experiences all blend together into a new kind of multimedia story telling
• The digital environment on an iPad feels peaceful and focused
• The touch screen is crisp and sharp and the book-size feels user friendly
• The iPad lives up to its promise of long battery life
• You need a bag and/or a slip to protect your iPad
• You need a soft, lint-free cloth to remove marks left by your fingers

The iPad and iPhone are innovative devices that bring to mind Think Different, Apple’s advertising campaign from 1997

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Now, what I’m really interested in, is how I can use this revolutionary tablet computer as a digital, portable, creative art studio! I’ll be back on Tuesday with my findings and hope to present a list of 20 outstanding creativity apps for the iPad.

Tags: apps, digital environment, ease, interface, iPad, simplicity, technology

Here are two methods for changing the wallpaper on your iPad.

Changing The iPad Wallpaper Through Settings

1. Tap on Settings
2. In the Settings screen select Brightness & Wallpaper
3. Now you have several options. First select which screen you would like to customize, the Home Screen or the Lock Screen.
   • Wallpaper will take you to Apple’s pre-installed selection of Wallpapers. Switch to a new one by clicking on its thumbnail image
   • Saved Photos lets you pick any of the photos you’ve synced with your iPad. Select the one you want to use as a wallpaper by tapping it
4. At the top-right corner you have the option to set the chosen wallpaper for the Lock Screen, the Home Screen or Both.
5. Once you have selected an image, you can drag your finger to move the wallpaper into the position you like and use the finger-thumb pinch to zoom it in or out. When you’re happy, tap on Set Wallpaper

Changing the iPad Wallpaper Through Photos

1. Click on Photos
2. Select the photo you want to use as a wallpaper
3. Tap on the Actions icon in the top right corner 
4. Once you have selected the image, you can adjust it by dragging your finger to move the wallpaper into the position you like and by using the finger-thumb pinch to zoom it in or out. When you’re happy, tap on Set Wallpaper

Tip

You can make a photo library in iTunes for your iPad wallpapers and name it something like iPad Wallpapers to easily find wallpapers you want to use on your iPad.

Tags: desktop customization, how-to, iPad, tutorials

Emoji emoticons used in Japanese text messaging

Emoji (絵文字) is the Japanese term for the 461 picture characters or emoticons used in Japanese wireless messages and webpages. Originally meaning pictograph, the word literally means e “picture” + moji “letter”. — Wikipedia

Aren’t these little emoticons simply adorable!? The good news is, that you can use them on your Mac and on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. You just have to activate them.

Several Apps Activate Emoji Icons

There are many Emoji enabler applications in the App Store that enable Emoji icons on the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Most of these apps simply enable Emoji icons, but there are some apps that offer a bit more functionality.

Typing Genius (link to App Store) is also a touch typing trainer.

XEmoji (link to App Store) gives you a description of each icon as well as the hex code.

If you’re only looking to activate Emoji icons you might be better off with a free app.

Remember, Emoji only works from iPhone to iPhone, so for your friends to see them, they also have to have an iPhone.

Activating Emoji Icons On Your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch

Once you have picked an application that turns on Emoji icons, follow these steps.

1. Use the application for a short while (around 30 seconds) to start the process. Exit the application.
2. Go to Settings > General > International > Keyboards > Japanese. Turn on Emoji.
3. To use the Emoji keyboard in Mail, SMS, Notes or any other application, tap on the World/Globe key next to the space bar on your iPhone or iPod Touch keyboard.
4. The Emoji keyboard has several tabs for the different categories of icons. Scroll sideways for more icons.

Once you’ve activated emoji icons on your iPhone you can delete the app. The app is only needed to activate the Emoji icons.

How To Activate Emoji Icons For iChat

If you want to turn on Emoji icons for instant messaging in iChat, you can download Emoji for iChat by Einar Andersson & Tor Rauden Källstigen.

Tags: Emoji, emoticons, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Japan, software

Here are some easy step-by-step tutorials to help you get started customizing your desktop with icons and wallpapers.

The Basics

• What Are Computer Icons?
• What are Wallpapers or Desktop Pictures?
• How to Save Icons and Wallpapers to Your Computer
• Help, I Downloaded Something and Now I Don’t Know Where it is?

How To Use Icons

• How to Change the Icons on a Mac
• How to Change the Icons in Windows
• Stay Organized by Color Coding Your Desktop and Following Your Workflow
• How to Organize Your Desktop by Naturally Following Your Workflow
• Why You Can Be More Productive Using Icons (So You Can Spend Less Time Working)

How To Use Desktop Wallpapers

• How to Change the Desktop Picture (or Wallpaper) on a Mac
• How to Change the Wallpaper in Windows
• How to Change the Wallpaper on your iPhone
• How to Change the Wallpaper on your iPad
• How to bring Goals, Values, Dreams and Motivation to Your Desktop

Tags: desktop customization, how-to, iPad, iPhone, Mac, tutorials, Windows