Tech Tools to Get Creative

Feeling creative? You don’t need a canvas to get creative – just some tech smarts and a few apps. 

Among the millions of apps that are available for smartphones, there must be thousands that help you create something. Most of those cover general areas, such as photography, music, or painting. But if you dig deeper, you’ll find some that are highly specific – to go crazy – with creativity!

The Top Five 

Here are five of the more unusual ones. With these apps, you’ll be able to record stop-motion animation, plot a backyard garden, fold elaborate paper airplanes, create virtual sandscapes, and design comic book pages. With these and similar creative apps, you’ll no longer have an excuse for being bored.

Stop Motion Studio

Stop Motion Studio (Android and iPhone) lets you create high-resolution stop-motion animations using everyday objects or materials, such as toys or lumps of clay. The animated movies Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) were produced using this same technique, as was the title character in the classic King Kong (1933). The process does require patience and hard work, but this app provides all the tools you’ll need. The basic app is free with no ads. A one-time fee of $5.99 will add advanced features.

Gardening

Can gardens be creative? That depends on how you lay them out. With Planter (Android and iPhone), you’ll be able to design a gardening grid with optimal spacing for your plants. Based on the square footage that’s available, you’ll be able to visualize the best arrangement for the vegetables or fruits that are appropriate for your climate. The free version does have ads. You can also pay to remove the ads and boost the features.

Paper Airplanes!

Who doesn’t like paper airplanes? That is until you try to fold them, especially the more complicated ones. Paper Planes, Airplanes (Android) and How to Make Paper Airplanes (iPhone) provide step-by-step video instructions on how to fold more than 20 different paper airplanes. The planes include an 8-step Roto-Copter, 10-step Concorde, and 20-step Dive-Bomber. The basic app is free with no ads.

Sandscapes

Sometimes virtual creations are best, particularly in categories where you might have to clean up afterwards. Thisissand (Android and iPhone) lets you construct sandscapes by dropping virtual grains of sand onto a canvas. You can choose from various colors and gradients to create layered artworks that you can easily share with the app’s user community. The basic app is free with no ads. You can also purchase extra tools, including one that lets you create photographic sand pieces.

Comic Books!

Pow!! Wham!! How would you like to create a comic book that incorporates your photos into its pages? With Comic Life 3 (iPhone), you can design comic book pages that combine your photos with the visual elements that are typical of the genre. You can create a page from scratch with the built-in fonts, balloons, captions, and lettering art. Alternatively, you can use one of the template pages that leave spaces for one or more photos. The app costs $4.99.

Your Turn

Have you tried any of these crazy-creative apps?  After you’ve created your animation, garden plot, paper airplane, sandscape, or comic book, don’t forget to share it with your online friends. Senior Planet Community’s A Space for Creatives group would be an especially good fit for that.

If you have tried any of these, or have any suggestions, let us know in the comments!

David English has written more than 1,000 articles for a variety of publications, including Architectural Record, Attaché, CNET, Computer Shopper, Hemispheres, Omni, PC Magazine, PC World, Sky, and US Airways Magazine. You can read more about his work as an award-winning writer at davidenglish.com. He often focuses on creative uses of technology. Ten of his photos were featured in a solo exhibition at the Leica Store at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. And he has created music videos that combine improvised music with computer graphics. You can view his photography at protozoid.com and his music videos on his YouTube channel.