Seventy-seven percent of all Americans own smartphones as of 2017. In addition to being popular, the smartphone is incredibly customizable, so much so that every owner can program his or her smartphone to cater to their needs and interests. For those interested in art and design, the smartphone can become the Swiss Army knife of digital tools if you choose the right apps and the phone with the best features. For architects, artists and interior designers, here are the most desirable smartphone features that can turn your phone into an artistic arsenal.
Morpholio Trace – For the image-centric architect, artist or designer, the Trace app allows users to draw on top of background templates and images instantly, creating sketches that users can comment on and edit. Import any image and modify it to outline a plan or idea: rooms, homes, cities — if it will fit in a photo, it can be imported into your smartphone for enhancement or redesign. Morpholio Trace is a sketch utility that allows users to ingenue ideas, layer concepts and communicate designs with others.
Camera – Possibly the most important smartphone feature for artists of all kinds is the camera. Smartphone cameras have evolved from producing low-res, grainy pictures to high-quality photographs that rival some camera models. For example, the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge features a 12 MP rear-facing camera with large F1.7 aperture and dual pixel. The hoopla about dual pixel technology is that for each pixel the sensor possesses two photodiodes, whereas those without dual pixel only have one, so the autofocus on a Samsung Galaxy S7 series camera is faster and produces photos that are brighter and sharper, and is especially efficient in dim or low lighting.
ColorSchemer – Particularly of interest to the interior designer, ColorSchemer is a creative platform and online social community designated to finding the perfect decor colors for varying environments. Users can find the best hues and tones for every room in the house and play around with alternate access colors to see which best compliments the core colors to build around.
Operating system – In order for the smartphone to keep up with the artistic user, it is going to need an operating system that is strong, dependable and fast. To multitask and run more complex apps, users will likely need at least 4GB of RAM and a muscled processor. Those models with water-cooling thermal spreader tech will prevent overheating, allowing artists and designers to use their smartphones for extended lengths of time.
Digital Pen & Support – Users who want a device that can produce precise sketching results fast should look for devices that have universal pressure support, meaning the precision of the stylus performance relies strictly on external pressure detection. Pens that utilize Wacom technology generate natural and exact input that is almost like using a real charcoal piece so creations do not have a computerized, rough appearance. A stylus and device that offer multiple colors and brush settings are crucial to creating clean images with fewer limitations.
Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile – A great stylus is of no use without an equally great app to use it in. Sketchbook redesigned the paint engine, allowing the app to produce fluid pencil and brush strokes. Some artists and designers prefer to forego the stroke smoothing feature in Sketchbook to decrease any lag time between the stroke and the appearance of the image of the stroke on the screen, allowing the pen and app to keep up with the user’s flow of ideas.
The distinguished and serious artist, designer or architect requires a smartphone with distinguished and serious features, as well as the right apps that draw upon the capabilities of these features. In an age of customization, for these users, a smartphone is not just a means of communication, but an irreplaceable means of creative expression.