Whilst sat on a crowded bus during heavy rush hour traffic, I tend to try and use my time productively. Luckily for me, those days of pulling the A4 journal or sketchpad from a canvas satchel have gone; instead I just pull the iPhone from my pocket.
With modern media and creativity at our digital fingertips, it is much quicker and easier to express our inner thought processes through a multi-touch interface rather than through the old-school method of a fine-liner pen. It is small, it is light, and you can email it to yourself when you are done.
What though about the poets? There were those days where the shy poet would sit on the bustling tube train, write some romantic verse and shyly look up. At this point the pretty girl opposite would smile at his emotionally sensitive self, and he would carefully go back to his work, perhaps even daring to glance back once again.
It occurs to me that this will not work with an iPhone (despite extensive attempts by myself and others). When writing on this small black piece of flirting-killing-technology, you either look like you are gaming or answering an email. Neither of these are particularly creative, nor do they impress.
There must be a solution to this. Us poets and creative individuals must unite to devise a way to show that we are different. That we are unique. That we are emotionally sensitive and doing something special with our time.
Will someone please then come up with a solution to this challenge?
How can you make an iPhone not look like an iPhone, without ruining the reasons why you use it in the first place?
This is my challenge to all of you budding designers out there, you who live for a creative problem that not only needs to be solved, but will help you in your everyday life. Give me a way to hide this piece of geek chic in a sensitive and thought provoking disguise.
Any solutions that are sent in will find a proud home on my blog. Sketches, doodles, models, working prototypes; all are welcome.
I will leave you with one final thought. Next time you are on a bus or train and see someone tapping away at their iPhone, pause and think that they may not be chipping their way through the corporate quarry or wasting their time on perplexing puzzles. They may be creating something beautiful, so give them a smile.
[...] on from last week’s post on the iPhone and its lack of creativity, I decided to write a little about the creative apps that [...]
We met last night and being the curious type I looked at your website and this caught my eye. I have actually written poems and two childrens stories on my iphone using ‘Notes’ on the train. Granted, it’s clunky, but once I have captured the essence and inspiration in the moment I can email it to myself and polish it off in word. I actually like the anonymity and the fact that I don’t stand out. I’m just another bloke tapping away on his iphone. Only I know what I am really doing, something far more interesting than work!