Above the Internet

Eyecandy 1 - In the Wild

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First off, congrats to @pauljholden, @philiporr and @cimota for getting this through the app store, they deserve it for what they’ve had to deal with so far. But what of the app itself?

It’s pretty much completely awesome. I let Sakura play with it this morning on the way to school and she has declared it to be “really fun”. She was immediately at home with the interface and was soon happily flicking back and forth and looking “under” the artwork. I have a feeling she will be using the pencils to copy the art this afternoon. Of course, once I showed her how she could paint it herself, she didn’t want to go into school anymore. The whinnying pony was just the icing on the cake.

Without doubt, her reaction to Eyecandy completely validates the principles behind it and I have no doubt that, even if I wasn’t wanting to support the guys at Infurious/Blue Pilot, this would be a monthly/weekly purchase. If you have a kid, you need to buy this. If you like awesome interfaces, you need to buy this. If you just want to support some local talent… you get the idea.

Any complaints? Couple of minor things. In the colouring pallette I would really like to see a “fill” option, as any sort of accuracy is difficult, though this is a limitation of the finger touch interface rather than the app itself (and I still want black to colour with). Also, the colours are possibly a little too “pastel” instead of the rich and vibrant colours in the comic itself. What I feel is the biggest issue is indirectly an interface one. Although it is a perfect interface and completely natural to use, the very fact that it introduces functionality that is completely impossible to implement in its real world counterpart means that there is no expectation of revealing the lines. Without knowing in advance that you can push down to see the ink and pencil versions, the only way to discover it is if a swipe accidentally uncovers the functionality. This is a minor thing and most people are likely to stumble upon it just from using the app, but it could be easily fixed with an initial “how to use” screen, with the option to “Do not show this again”. I would hate for anyone not to see what is a fundamental part of the experience.

But, to be honest, these are nitpicks. For the first version of comic reader (at least in the wild) it is a triumph and hopefully it will catalyse some disenfranchised artists to come to the team with ideas of content they want to distribute.

When Sakura gets home from school I’ll try and get a quick video of her playing with the app and giving her impressions.

Tags: comic reader, eyecandy, masked marshal, murderdrome