Next Generation Tools to Take Your Creativity to the Next Level

Once upon a time, ancient man used plant pigments, sticks & stones, to carve art into caves, cliff faces, jewelry & sculptures. Fast forward 40,000 years and what do we have? Designers, marketers, animators, photographers & creatives, all tap, tap, click, click, touch, touch, swiping away on their computers, smartphones and tablets. Let’s face it, you can only lead the way and have others chase your taillights if you are using cutting edge hardware and software tools in your creative agency. As I am a bit of a geek at heart, and well… somewhat creative, once in a while I stumble upon interesting emerging technologies. Here’s a couple to keep an eye on…

4K Displays – The rise of the ‘Retina’ displays or Ultra HD (4K).

Just as we’ve all grown accustomed to terms such as Full HD or 1080p, here come the 4K displays. Essentially what this means is more pixels than ever, crammed into an ultra-sharp display, worthy of the clarity one would see in a mirror or out the window. In fact, we’re talking double the resolution of Full HD/1080p, taking the pixel count up from 1920 x 1080 pixels, to a whopping 3840 x 2160! So as a designer, what does this mean for you? Well, at the moment, not much. Currently there are very few 4K television displays on the market, and the few that are available will set you back $24,999.99 for an 84” model, such as the Sony XBR 4K Ultra HD TV. Of course, one can expect the prices of these monolithic canvases to come down substantially, as manufactures improve yield rates and reduce their overheads. Price aside, other obstacles such as the lack of content to feed these displays, including live broadcasts or pre-recorded 4K video, plus graphics hardware beefy enough to handle this size of display are lagging somewhat behind. All are still playing catch up to be able to support 4K.

But don’t worry; it shouldn’t be too long before your boss will surprise you with one of these babies waiting for you on your desk – running Adobe Creative Suite. Just imagine the possibilities with all that extra desktop real estate. Your creative projects will come to life! In the mean time, feast your eyes on these: http://store.sony.com/c/XBR-4K-TV-Ultra-HD-Resolution/en/c/S_4KTV.

3D Printers – Desktop manufacturing… with one click!

When we think about it, not much has changed in terms of how we print things. Generally speaking, we have two types of printing methods to choose from; color ink-jet printing and laser printing, both outputting onto paper or similar media – and in 2D. Enter 3D Printers! A software-guided precision laser is used to meld material into shape, anywhere from a coffee mug, all the way to an automobile. In the past couple of years, 3D modeling software and 3D printers have become more affordable, with rapid prototyping within reach of ordinary people. So what does this mean for you, the creative? Well, the sky is the limit! Artists, designers and architects alike, are now able to create tangible, detailed prototypes, derived from sophisticated 3D modeling applications, such as Autodesk’s 123D. The level of detail, and the rapid transition from proof of concept, to a final design that can be held and manipulated, has never been so accessible. One of the most popular 3D Printer manufactures, Cubify 3DSystems, has an entry-level 3D printer, the ‘Cube’, starting at $1299.00. So before you go outsourcing the prototyping of a product or project in the far east, check out these options: http://cubify.com/cube/printers.aspx?hp_bn_printers. For 20 fine examples of what 3D Printing can do, wonder over to: http://www.creativebloq.com/3d-tips/print-in-3d-1234034. With the advent of these affordable, shoehorned factories, who knows, we just might be on the verge of another mini industrial revolution.

Given our infinite selection of tools, our ever so heightened sense for aesthetic and technical execution, one can only dream of what tomorrow will bring. Now, how about that flying car already?

Daniel Pantic | fp. Account Manager

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