The Online Magazine Focused on App Design, Branding & Marketing

Welcome back to Inside the Design Studio, where we take you behind the scenes and give you a quick glimpse at the app design process! Today, we’ll be teasing DaySince, an upcoming Rocksauce Studios app. We can’t tell you what it does quite yet (but you will soon enough), but after the jump, you can check out the creation of a piece of art — a number, if you want to get specific — in Illustrator. Whether you’re genuinely interested in app design or just want to see hours of work sped up to a brisk 45 seconds, you should definitely hit the jump.

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One day, we were approached by someone with a connection to Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquaio who was interested in creating a simple boxing game with the notion that Pacquiao was actively looking to enter the mobile space. The idea here was to sell Pacquaio on the idea with just an image and a pitch. Now. I’m not the most skilled artist ever, but I do work fast. We decided to spend a few hours of our time on a concept piece, with the hope that it would open a dialogue with Pacquaio’s camp to choose us as their app design company.

We were told the game needed to be gritty, with more of an underground feel than an HBO or EA Fight Night feel, but still respectful of the sport. With a time crunch hanging over my head, I got to work.

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The Game: Jetpack Joyride

The Device: iPad

The Price: Free for for iOS

The Basics: You steal a jetpack and go on a joyride. You’ll ride it for a while and then are killed, horribly.

That’s it.

The Review: Since I’ve been playing games on a borrowed iPad, I’ve been making my way through what’s considered the best of the bunch, and Jetpack Joyride might be the most addictive one yet. I simply can’t stop playing this game.

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One of the major conundrums of our modern age is how we view the prices of apps. “99 cents? Are you kidding me? That’s outrageous!” You need to say that at the top of your lungs while shaking your fist at your iPhone for full effect. We see a Blu-ray for $20 and see a bargain. We buy a movie ticket for $10 without blinking an eye. Many magazines cost upwards of $5 for a single issue. For whatever reason, though, we are excessively hesitant to drop that single dollar on an app or game. “What if it’s a bad app? I’ll be wasting a whole dollar!”

It may seems like I’m making fun of the people who flip out over spending a buck on an app, but I fully sympathize. I don’t download an app until I’ve thought it through, read dozens of reviews in the store, read reviews online and thought it through some more. Although a great app can offer many hours of entertainment or make your life significantly easier, it’s still a little square symbol on your phone. It doesn’t technically exist. On some subconscious level, it feels like your hard-earned dollar has vanished into the ether. Why waste that dollar on something that isn’t a sure thing?

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The social beer app Brewski Me has enhanced your ability to share brews among friends with photo sharing. As a joint creation from Rocksauce Studios and AppsVersusRobots, Brewski Me captures the beer-drinking experience through ratings, reviews, check-ins, favorites and more.

In version 1.2, you can take, upload, and save images of the beer you are enjoying in the app and on the web. The screenshots below show the feature in action:

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Have you reached the point where slingshotting surly birds through brick walls simply isn’t doing it for you anymore?  Whether you’re looking for a work day diversion or killing time on the commode, the iTunes store offers several retro alternatives to all of the mad fowl and fruit-slicing ninjas out there.  Let’s take a look at some of the most recognizable gaming collections on the market to determine which ones are actually worth your quarters…

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Wow! Talk about something unique. With Hollywood going crazy for 3D, and the 3DS changing the way we see gaming, an app is now available for your iPhone 4 that creates a 3D model of your face. It’s always nice to see something new arriving in the app store, and this is definitely unique! Here’s a video on how to use the app (lights, bright, close.)

Developer: Callaway

Martha Stewart has done it all — business tycoon, a face in the media, a published author, a convict, and now, an iTunes app entrepreneur.  Right now in the iTunes store, Stewart’s “Martha Stewart Makes Cookies” is the app of the week.  I’m going to get in touch with my sweet side and talk about it.

Stewart’s app is very self-explanatory — it’s a gourmet cookie how-to.  Very dangerous to the borderline diabetic, the cookie recipes come in a variety of tasty flavors — Butter, Coconut, Oatmeal, Caramel, Expresso, Spice, Chocolate, Fruit, Spirits, Citrus, Nut, and coming soon, Valentine’s.  Ready for that sugar-induced coma, yet? More after the JUMP…

Developer: Nexvio

When a new camera app releases to the iTunes store, the little boy in me on Christmas comes running out to play.  I went to school for film, so excitement over anything camera-related comes natural to me.  iTunes has a slew of camera apps in its store for the iPhone (Video Camera, iVideoCamera and QIK Video Camera to name a few), but nothing has left me slack-jawed as much as the 8mm Vintage Camera app has.

8mm VC is real-time shooting and has every nuance a real 8mm camera has ever shown while recording – grain, faded colors, scratches, hairs and my favorite, frame jitter.  Look at the image below, you can see how easy it is to access these features. More after the JUMP…

For 99-cents I can enjoy a King Sized candy bar, five chicken nuggets, or a large sweet tea from a fast food drive-thru. I’m paying a dollar for about five minutes worth of fleeting junk food pleasure.  99-cents is the perfect price for an impulse buy, and it rarely feels like a loss because a little digging in your couch cushions or car console means another dollar is right around the corner.

Why then, do I balk at 99-cent applications? What is it about apps that turns me into a picky buyer? To put this in perspective, when I’m hungry and armed with a dollar, I don’t pore over user reviews for potato chips before I make my purchase — I simply pick a flavor.  When an app is anything more than free, I check star ratings, peruse lengthy reviews, evaluate the design and research the promised features. I put more work into getting my dollar’s worth from an app than any sane person should. More after the JUMP…