The other day I tweeted “is it possible for a productivity/creativity app to make you more of both?”
This has been the question lingering in my mind for quite some time now ever since I downloaded the new app Paper by FiftyThree. The app is a seamless mix of productivity, creativity, and note-taking. The variety of pens for the app give the user the ability to express themselves in a seemingly endless number of ways. From sketching to notetaking, drawing to idea mapping, Paper brings the best of creativity to a productivity app. With Paper the user has complete control over their experience, able to transform the app to fit different day to day needs in a way no previous app has been able to. It is as if the full potential of the iPad has been reached with Paper as the app itself seems to disappear under the stroke of the users’ finger, opening up the creative channel of the user themselves. Personally, I have never found an app geared towards productivity and creativity that allows me to work in what I consider to be my own natural mode. The thing other great apps like Penultimate lack is truly the ability to mix media. Allowing the user to switch from a true drawing experience to a true writing experience to a true painting experience, all while allowing handwritten notes in a variety of styles. And the beautiful interface doesn’t hurt either!
With Paper I am easily able to sketch out ideas in a beautiful and expressive way.
The app itself of course is not without some flaws. There is the issue of the apps rigidity when it comes to manipulating the Moleskine-like journals, (for example one cannot reorder pages of a journal or transfer pages from one to another) and also some issues with the sharing capabilities of the app that are sub par for today’s app standards. The app is also missing some great functions like text input and image uploads that could open the app up to scrap booking functionality. All this, however, does not detract from the creative genius of the app as a whole. This app has made my own personal brainstorming sessions even more successful and creative then I could have originally imagined. Perhaps it was my own creativity laying in wait for me, or perhaps it was the app’s ability to open up and take in my ideas that forced them out. Either way I am sketching and brainstorming and notetaking in creative ways I have never before experienced on my iPad. As someone who has multiple unused productivity apps downloaded to their iPad, it is interesting that I have found myself continually coming back day after day, hour after hour to Paper.