How To Use Your Smartphone To Become A Better Designer
Technology is great. There are so many different types of smartphones, computers medical devices, home automation tools, and even tech accessories for our pets. With such great advancements in technology, there’s a good chance that you’re using some aspect of technology to improve your life. You might use a ride-sharing service like Uber or Lyft to get to work. You might use an app or website to deposit checks and make banking transactions. You might even use a Bluetooth and wi-fi enable lock to open your doors with your smartphone. No matter your knowledge or enthusiasm for technology, you are directly affected by various devices every day.
Most people have a smartphone. It doesn’t matter if your team Android or team iOS, that device in your pocket is a mini computer. Smartphone technology has made great strides over the past few years, and it will continue to improve year after year. Today, we’ll be focusing on how all these improvements in smartphone technology can help you become a better graphic designer.
Apps On Top Of Apps On Top Of Apps
Have you heard the slogan, “There’s an app for that?” This phrase became popular during the iPhone commercials in the early days of the iOS App Store. It became a long-running joke used for situations when you needed a technological way to do something. Do you need to plan a party? There’s an app for that. Do you need to remember to call your mom every Sunday? There’s an app for that. “Do you want to watch your favourite cartoons? There’s an app for that too. Yep. There’s an app for just about everything. Graphic design is no exception to that. There are hundreds of apps that will allow you to do everything from enhancing your photos, to creating vector graphics, to painting beautiful portraits. No matter what type of graphic design you specialize in, there’s an app for that. Gone are the days of searching for the perfect tool to accomplish a specific task. Some apps handle a broad range of functions, and some apps focus on a particular subject. Many of the graphic design apps are well made and will be very beneficial to your visual design workflow.
Scan Absolutely Everything
Did you know that you could use your smartphone camera for more than just taking fantastic selfies? Amazing right? While I’m a huge fan of getting the perfect selfie, I’m also a fan of using my smartphone camera to scan documents and artwork. I have an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil, but there are several occasions where I find myself sketching a quick drawing out in my notebook. It’s really nice to be able to take what I’ve drawn in my notebook and bring that into Illustrator or Photoshop to keep working on the project. Another excellent use for the camera is document scanning. When I first started studying graphic design, I purchased a few textbooks. It was super helpful to be able to take those books and scan them into my phone for an on-the-go reference. It’s not a super great solution for studying an entire book, but if you just need a few pages or a chapter, your smartphone works excellently. I use a few different apps for my scanning needs depending on what I’m scanning and where I need it to go. You can apply to the camera app on your phone to take a quick picture, but if you’re looking for the best quality, I would recommend downloading an app that’s designed for photo or document scanning.
Organize Your Whole Life
A key component to improving any aspect of your life is managing your time and your commitments. Your smartphone can help you stay organized and stick to a schedule. Use the calendar app to plan your week so that you know what’s coming up. Have you set aside some time to work on a specific tutorial later this week? Add that to your calendar so that you don’t forget. Do you have a project due for a client next month? Add that to your schedule as well. Keeping the commitments that you make to yourself and others is invaluable. Don’t miss an opportunity to improve your skills or make some extra money just because you forgot to do something.
There are so many ways that smartphones enhance our lives. They offer ways to stay connected with the people we love, keep ourselves organized, share memories and so much more. It’s astonishing just how much we can accomplish with a pocket-sized device. What are some of your favourite things to do with your smartphone?
