It’s curious how the icon used to represent front covers is a square book and at the moment a user can’t create their own templates or re-order pages.

Even curiouser is there is an option in the Document Inspector to disable the portrait orientation (while viewing content), but no option to disable the landscape orientation completely or enable landscape front covers.

Interactive images are formatted off centre which is also helpful.

I came across this blog post at ‘Phil Gyford’s website‘, a freelance designer with a great take on a UI for the Guardian’s website. Be sure to check out his lengthy blog post about UI and the habits of old media content in general (as well to understand his thinking behind the implementation he’s put forward for navigating a newspaper’s website). If you don’t read his blog post, realise you need to click left or right of the central column to navigate the site.

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On a similar note. I hope this invention will become a reality, (i’m aware it was an April Fools but I’ve seen it before and now the designer is considering bringing it to market) as eBay will be seeing an uptick in business.

The third in the series of interviews with various Photographers and iOS Developers. All of them develop portfolio Apps for Apple’s iPad. This interview is with UK developer Nick Kuh of Portfolio To Go.

Nick Kuh is a freelance iPhone/iPad Developer based in Brighton, UK. Nick is also responsible for various Apps on the Apple App store, one of them in particular is Tap To Facebook Chat.

Portfolio To Go can be found at any of the links below. A PDF version of this interview can be found here:

Website, iTunes, Twitter, Facebook

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What gave you the inspiration to write Portfolio To Go?

I wrote and submitted the first version of Portfolio To Go before the iPad launched in the UK. I’d already authored a number of iPhone Applications and I wanted to build an app that would run on both iPhone and the new iPad.  My wife, Nicole Carman (www.nicolecarman.com) is a photographer and when she visits new clients she often carries a large portfolio of her printed work. With it’s beautiful large, high res screen I felt the iPad could be the ideal replacement tool for photographers and artists who need to take their portfolio to go!

Who are you?  Are you a photographer?  Tell us a bit about yourself or the Portfolio To Go team.

I’m a freelance iPhone/iPad Developer. My wife is a photographer.

Is this your first App for iOS?

No – I have about 8-10 apps in the App Store, a combination of personal projects and commercial work.

 

Do you write any other Apps for iOS?

My most popular app is also my most recent. Tap To Facebook Chat (http://www.facebook.com/taptochat) enables users to Facebook Chat with Friends all on one screen. Built for iPhone and iPad in partnership with Chris Ross (http://www.hiddenmemory.co.uk) we developed a free, ad supported version and a paid version. Our app has been downloaded 60,000 times in the 3 weeks it’s been live.

Will you write other Apps for iOS devices? More importantly, photography related ones.

I will continue to write apps. I don’t have plans for further Photography apps at this stage although another of my apps – Buddies Facebook Browser also focuses on Photos for Facebook users.

What is notable about the photo function in the Buddies Facebook Browser?  I read a 4 star review on iTunes, it stated that for a facebook app it seemed more concerned about the photo features (and chat) than anything else.

Buddies enables users to create Facebook photo galleries and add photos from their iPad. Buddies batch uploads multiple photos in the background while the user continues to browse Facebook. Users can even create Facebook galleries and add photos when they’re not connected to the Internet – Buddies just syncs their changes the next time they connect.

 

You released Portfolio before iOS 4.2. Did coding for iOS 4.2 make much of a difference compared to iOS 3.2?

There’s not much work involved if you’re a competent iOS developer. You have to be aware of Apps going in and out of the foreground rather than actually shutting down and restarting but Apple makes this process pretty straight forward for developers.

How long did it take to write Portfolio To Go?

Erm… I didn’t really keep count. It’s an ongoing process so the hours will have built up a lot over time. Maybe around 6 weeks development total.

Where do you want to take Portfolio To Go with future updates, where do you see yourself in a years time?

I get a lot of positive feedback from customers about Portfolio To Go which is always nice to receive. I don’t have imminent plans to update this app as it does everything I set out to do with the app. It does provide a beautiful way for photographers to show clients their work.

It’s admirable that you set out and achieved what you wanted to do.  Not many individuals can actually say that. So you don’t feel any pressure from the competition then?

No, I don’t feel any pressure. Personal apps are my secondary source of income – I make my main living from working on commercial projects. Obviously I want my apps to do well though!

 

What do you as a Developer/Photographer want to see in the next iPad, either to aid your Apps or just for your own pleasure?

I’m pretty happy with the current iPad, it’s miles ahead of anything produced by the copycat competitors!

How do you see this market developing as we go forward?  Are you concerned about the ‘race to the bottom’ and copycat apps affecting this class of applications?

Portfolio To Go was about the first Portfolio App specifically for iPad in the App Store I think. Now-a-days there are quite a few competitors. It does amaze me how expensive some of the competitors are pricing their apps. So high in fact that I haven’t checked out most of their products – so who am I to judge!

Some competitors are incorporating features so artists can display video work alongside photographic work.  Other Apps offer the ability to brand a home screen using light editing tools.  Do they sound like something you’d want to implement at some point?

Portfolio To Go is a Playback app. These kind of features would be better suited to an app that also incorporates editing. That’s never been my goal with PTG.

 

Are you a one-man operation or is this a group effort?

One-man band.

Where are you based and where have you seen the greatest uptake of Portfolio To Go at the moment?

I’m based in Brighton, UK. The US is the strongest market for every App I’ve developed.

Why is the US your biggest market do you think?

The US has the largest base of iPad/iPhone owners out of all the different App Store countries. Unless you’re making a country-specific app such as National Rail or London Tube apps you are likely to see that majority of your sales coming from the US. That’s been my experience.

I found the built in Photo Application rather lacking for a Pro Photographer, others will feel it’s good enough. Were you concerned of your App’s uptake by other Photographers before committing yourself to creating Portfolio To Go?

Portfolio to Go began as a learning experiment. I wanted to make my first iPad App and also something my wife would be able to use to show her work to clients. Portfolio To Go was less business driven (like some of my other apps) and more about learning iPad Dev skills. So no, I wasn’t concerned.

Can you explain anything about the creation process behind your app? Did you involve other photographers or even editors to ask what they would want in a digital portfolio that attempts to replicate the printed portfolio and presentation?

Primarily I see the iPad as a ‘Playback Tool’. It’s a beautiful device and it’s great that there are so many apps out there that enable you to achieve all kinds of complicated functions. However, I like to use the iPad for consuming content – browsing Twitter and Facebook using Flipboard, viewing photos, reading news etc. The default photos app is great but it requires you to connect to iTunes and sync photos each time you take a new set. My wife (and millions of other photographers) use Flickr.com to upload and organise their photos using Flickr’s online sharing service. Portfolio To Go updates itself automatically with your Flickr portfolio so it can be used as a Playback tool and not an Authoring tool. I think it does that really well.

That’s a clever feature because you actually start to spend less time ‘working’ on the iPad, those use to the keyboard and mouse will feel they are more productive.  But Apps in general are trying to get us to do more with our iPads.  So Portfolio To Go goes against the trend of enabling the iPad to do more.  That philosophy also allows Portfolio To Go to literally live up to its name.

I believe in creating good user experiences and Apple encourages that. Less is often more when it comes to user experience if your app achieves its primary purpose well. Portfolio To Go has won an iPad App of the Week Award from Apple BTW!

How do you see Portfolio To Go existing alongside a traditional portfolio?  I think such presentation apps done right are good enough to replace the printed portfolio.  If the photography is good enough then it won’t matter how they are presented.

I think Portfolio To Go serves this process well. Numerous photographers have written to me to let me know how PTG helped them win new clients. Ultimately I see the App’s purpose as an introduction to a Photographer’s work and not a replacement of print in general though.

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Portfolio To Go at the time of writing is priced at £2.99 and $4.99 on the Apple App Store.

A review of Portfolio To Go can be found here: Portfolio To Go.

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Coming soon: Interview and review for ‘Collections for iPad’ by Tiger Ng.

The first in the series of interviews with various Photographers and iOS Developers.  All of whom develop various portfolio Apps for Apple’s iPad.  First up is Chad Holder of App Development for PADPORT.

PDF version can be found here: PADPORT

We have recently launched a portfolio app for the iPad.  It is called PADPORT and we are very excited about it.  This app is designed to showcase a wide range of artistic expression through your iPad.  PADPORT is perfect for any artist: the photographer, illustrator, model, industrial designer, architect, handbag designer, cabinet maker, party planner, interior designer, painter, general contractor, anyone who needs to showcase their work.  PADPORT is designed to present your product in a simple, thoughtful format.  Upload image or video to your library and create a specialized portfolio to show to your clientele.  Add or remove media on a whim as you customize the order, look and style of your portfolio. – Chad Holder

PADPORT Can be found at any of the links below.

Website, iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, Email

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So with our first question, tell us a bit about the PADPORT team.

I am Chad Holder, I am a photographer based in the states.  My brother and I are working on PADPORT together, it has been a really fun family project and we are thrilled with how it has turned out and excited about its potential.  I am in Minneapolis and my brother is in South Carolina.  We have an overseas alliance who are doing the programming, they are based in India, and an awesome design team working out of Texas.  All in all there are about seven people working on PADPORT.

And are you also a photographer yourself?

Yes, I am a photographer.  But PADPORT isn’t just for the photographer.  It is for anyone who wants to show what they do.  So, any model, stylist, performer, architect or cabinet maker.  We provided a Title section that will display whatever it is you do on the HOME screen.  We also allowed for the option to leave this section blank and it will be blank on the HOME screen.

What gave you the inspiration to write PADPORT?

When I first saw the iPad I thought it would make the perfect portfolio.  It renders images better than print, and the chance to showcase video with stills in the same package was the perfect opportunity. But PADPORT isn’t just for the photographer.  It is for anyone who wants to show what they do.  So, any model, stylist, performer, architect or cabinet maker.  We provided a Title section that will display whatever it is you do on the HOME screen.  We also allowed for the option to leave this section blank and it will be blank on the HOME screen.

Is this your first App for iOS?

Yes, the first.  We had some other app ideas, but this is the one that made the most sense.  We are also working on some more apps that will tie into PADPORT and create a family of apps.

What are these other Apps you plan to do?  Can you tell us a bit more about them or are they top secret with ‘top men’ working on them.

The other apps are at a stage too early to talk about just yet.  But they are going to be for the photographer and the photographer’s client.  With some of the look and feel of PADPORT.

How easy was it to create PADPORT?  How long did it take to get PADPORT to Version One?

We started the ball rolling in June/July of 2010.  So version 1.0.0 took about six months to design and develop.  We had to make a few compromises for the first version in order to get it into users hands, but we are working on some updates that will make the app even better.

Do you write any other Apps for iOS?

No, just PADPORT for the iPad for now.

“With the iPad your portfolio could be more than the printed portfolio.”

Will you write other Apps for iOS devices? More importantly, photography related ones.

We feel that the iPad is the best device to show images and video and so we are focussing on the iPad for now because of the larger format.

PADPORT is a relatively new App in the App Store. Arriving after the release of 4.2. Did coding for iOS 4.2 make much of a difference compared to iOS 3.2?  What made a difference in iOS 4.2?

The timing just worked out to launch right after the release of 4.2.  We didn’t really plan it and 4.2 didn’t really change anything with the app.

How long did it take to write PADPORT?

That’s hard to gage, but we had about 7 people working on different aspects of it for the past 6 months.

Where do you want to take PADPORT with future updates, where do you see yourself in a years time?

We really want to be the go to app for showing your portfolio on the iPad.  PADPORT is theme based and so the sky is the limit in terms of different looks and feels.  We can always design a new theme to meet our users needs or wants.

Right now we are working on it being able to show images full frame on the iPad and also the ability to zoom in and out.  We are working on portrait orientation, and also external display ability.  The option to change the order of portfolios, and a few more things that are going to be cool.

We are about to release version 1.0.1 which has sharper thumbnails.  (That was a big compromise that we had to deal with in order to launch when we did, but it is being fixed in this next little upgrade.)  Also, we received some feedback that users didn’t know to tap the top 2 inches of the screen to reveal the back button, so we are now changing it to tap anywhere to reveal the back button.

Because we just launched last month, we are working on catching up to where we think we should be.  It might be a few more months, but we will eventually get there.

What do you as a Developer want to see in the next iPad, either to aid your Apps or just for your own pleasure?

We really want more memory so the app will function faster.  Also, a bigger pad would be awesome.  I think the camera would be a nice addition to have.

Considering how new your PADPORT is, I’ve already seen FolioBook vs PADPORT in discussions and Google search results. You have a competitor with a similar feature set. How do you see yourself differentiating from your competitor/competition?

PADPORT can show video which I think is very important, Foliobook doesn’t.  Our user interface is so much more user friendly, I still cannot figure out Foliobook and how to get it working.  We worked hard on getting the swiping action right, if you compare the two, PADPORT is much smoother.  Our themes allow for more options on how the HOME screen looks not just a row of galleries along a horizontal line.  We wanted to give the user more options so the layouts are unique.  Both are great apps it’s all preference.

Are you a one man operation or is this a group effort?

It’s a group effort.  We have about 7 people working on the app.

Where are you based and where have you seen the greatest uptake of PADPORT at the moment?

We are in the states, 85% of our purchases are from here.  10% from the UK. 5% other countries.

Do you have thoughts as to why so many of your customers are based in the US?  Those are striking differences.

We think the first reason is that we have been marketing to US photographers through email blasts.  Not that we are excluding the other countries for any reason, it’s just that out email lists are US based.  Also, simply because of geography the US has a bigger population and therefore a greater number of photographers.

I found the built in Photo Application lacking anything for a Pro Photographer, others will feel it’s good enough. Were you concerned of your App’s uptake by other Photographers before committing yourself to creating PADPORT?

Not really, We knew from the beginning that it was a great idea and it was something that we really wanted to build.

Can you explain anything about the creation process behind your app? Did you involve other photographers or even editors to ask what they would want in a digital portfolio that attempts to replicate the printed portfolio and its presentation?

We started out with some rough sketches that I drew up, we brought in an awesome designer, talked to others to see what they expected in a portfolio and went from there.  Throughout the process we got as much information as we could from anyone who was willing to help out.  It turned out that with the iPad your portfolio could be more than the printed portfolio.  I’m talking about the ability to hot link to your website, compose an email from the app to receive feedback, put your video in a gallery next to an image, change your images and order on the run.  It’s an incredible tool.

How do you see PADPORT existing alongside a printed portfolio?

I have heard of some photographers doing this.  I think because they want to show bigger then the iPads screen.  I think if that is what works for you then that is a great way to go.  A photographer may want to add a few extra images to PADPORT and their video to pull out if the showing is going well.  It’s not a bad idea.

And to just wrap up, anyone notable who is using PADPORT?

There are many great photographers using the app.  We are actually thrilled with how sales are going, and are excited to be involved in helping people show their work.

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PADPORT at the time of writing is priced at £5.99 and $9.99 on the Apple App Store.

A review of PADPORT is also being written, check back soon.

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Coming Soon – Interview with Paul Freeman of FolioBook.