The Daily Monster app: I has it.

Posted by Michelle on September 3, 2011 in Inspiration, Storytelling, artist |

Let me start off this whole things by stating that I cannot draw things. Yes I am an artist but I’m not that sort of artist. Believe me I have tried. I have a iPad full of drawing apps, the really good ones, hoping somehow that magically drawn art would happen. It didn’t.

Also. I love apps. More than anyone I know. I’ve got hundreds of rejected apps on my computer that I’ve tried and abandoned. I know what I like. I know what works. It’s a lot of fun interacting with other people’s creations and seeing what you can get out of them.

When I first ran across the The Daily Monster app I was intrigued. I thought it would a cool app for my son who love to create all sorts of creatures. Instead I found myself curled up on the couch making monster after monster and really have a delightful time creating creatures I could be really happy about.

Drawn art, really good drawn art has a sort of effortless execution of nuance. Tiny detail that tells a story. And all art, all good art, tells a story. For me the nuance was in the ink. There was just enough of a hint there to find the story in the shape and add the rest. It was the perfect meeting of help and freedom. Like someone helping you get your bike started.

Plus, at the end, you have this little guy or girl or none-of-the-above and they have a presence all their own. A new story.

The app isn’t perfect. It crashes a lot. I learned fast to clear out all my backgrounding apps before I launched the app and to save as soon as the monster was done. Before working on any other enhancements. I lost four monsters that were nearly finished and all four losses made me a little sad. Weirdly, it also makes the whole monster building experience a little high stakes. You are forced to keep moving, be decisive, you never know when it all might be lost. I kind of like that but not as much as I disliked losing the monsters. It is a problem that is being addressed.

I can see the potential for this to improve more over time. I think that adding more “stuff” is a priority. I love the stuff that’s there, I can see the potential for so many other things. I would even be willing to pay for “add-on” stuff packs. The app is already really cheap. The user interface is also fantastic. It’s almost the perfect mix of simple and complex.

Problems considered, it’s still a pretty big stand out. And I don’t say that about a lot of apps. And the best part is, I have some new friends. You can see more of them in my monsters Picasa Album.

The Daily Monster App can be found in itunes. It is based on some of artist, Stefan Bucher’s work that you can find over at DailyMonster.com