I have been playing a highly addictive game on my phone. The premise is you are a mayor and city planner and you design your own town. It’s fun, but to advance to a meaningful level, they expect you to spend money. It’s pretty annoying, yet I still seem to justify throwing the app developers a $10 dollar bone now and then. 

In December of 2017, I took an 8-month sabbatical from social media. I wanted to feel what it was like to live in the 90s again. Since my return, I have become inspired by Instagram artists like Moon Patrol, Phillip Kramer, and The Collage Empire.

Each artist has very different styles. Moon Patrol aka Matt Cunningham works with clean lines and pops of color in a world of early 60’s-style comic-lendings. His pieces are of the collage medium, and I haven’t seen one I didn’t like.

Phillip Kramer’s collection can be described as hilariously deformed and creepy. Working fast and dirty, Phillip has 1000’s of mind-bending pieces. Many of those pieces have played a role in getting banned from the likes of social media giants – more than once. Phillip is back and now has a store where he is selling his works.

The Collage Empire does a great job working with texture. Unique and beautiful with a rustic vibe, each piece rings to the scenario of “things you may find in a barn loft build in the 20s.” I recently learned the artist has put out their own collaging app you can find in iTunes. 

All of these wonderful artists got me thinking…

“Hey, why are you wasting your time on this damn slow-moving town game, when there are probably a host of creative apps out there!”

I immediately went to the app store an entered “creative”. Oh my goodness. My digital design joy just notched up several levels. 

Bazaart

The app I found is called Bazaart. It is essentially a super powerful design tool in the palm of your hand. You can add and order layers. Many Photoshop type of features are included with the app, so if you already know Adobe PS, it is very intuitive. It also integrates with Creative Cloud giving you tons of design control and possibilities. 

In fact, I thought to myself, this would be a great way for Adobe to introduce responsive walkthrough tutorials on how to use Photoshop. Being able to see various blending options and filters in milliseconds gives the user easy to digest visual information. 

You will end up spending $7.99 a month, so tack that onto the other never-ending entertainment expenses. For me, it is worth every penny. If you enjoy creating on the fly, check it out. 

Disclaimer

I am not being paid to spread the love about Bazaart. I just love it that much. I will say, for people who are -ahem- a little older, consider getting a tablet if you want to dive into Bazaart as a medium. I created the following pieces on my iPhone 8. All I kept thinking was, I wish I had an iPad. It’s definitely not a requirement. Just a nice to have.  

More art coming soon…