Although a frequent complaint concerning tablets of any stripe has been that they aren’t exactly conducive to creative design (since they’re really meant to act more as a mobile entertainment center than a work station). But thanks to the widespread availability of useful apps on the iTunes store, the iPad may actually be ahead of the pack in this regard (despite Apple’s notoriety for strict control of their products and what they produce). So if you’re a graphic designer looking for ways to make your life easier through the use of mobile technology, here are a few apps that you’ll definitely want to look into downloading.

1. Adobe Ideas. Just about everyone who ends up in the field of graphic design these days (be it in an amateur or professional capacity) started out by messing around with Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, or even After Effects if you dabble in motion graphics). This is not surprising considering how user-friendly (and yet comprehensive) the company’s product lineup is. And thankfully, they have expanded into mobile space with this virtual sketchpad that will help busy graphic designers to lay out ideas wherever they are and cart them between home, office, and meetings with clients. Plus, a bevy of tools, options for layers, and easy handling make this app a must-have.
2. Phaidon Design Classics. This is one app that serious graphic designers (or those that want to go pro) simply can’t live without. It features 1,000 carefully selected product designs that have stood the test of time, and while many were the work of famous designers, you’ll be surprised to discover that some of the ingenious objects we use every day were created anonymously (like the corkscrew, for example). You can search via timeline, category, designer, or keyword to instantly access the designs that won awards, made history, and even changed our lives for the better. Anyone in search of inspiration or education will get both out of this app.
3. iFontMaker. Tired of trolling the internet for free fonts, or worse, paying to get the best fonts for your clients? Thanks to this handy addition to the iVerse you can now create your own unique fonts specifically geared towards the needs of individual clients, and keep them on hand for reference or reuse down the road.
4. iDesign. Regardless of the type of graphics you create, it couldn’t hurt to start your process in 2D before expanding into another plane. The toolbar offers one-touch access to helpful functions, multiples layers let you separate your design into individual elements (for easy revision), and you can literally control every aspect of your graphics, from line width to font size to the unit of measurement. While it may be a bit overwhelming for those unfamiliar with graphics design, professionals will delight in the many options this program provides.
5. iThoughtsHD. Not all graphics designers are busy creating logos or designing websites (and even if they are, they could be doing website design Fargo, Fairbanks, or Fort Worth style, which is to say, without much hope of becoming a web sensation). However, there are a lot of corporate gigs out there for designers that are not at all averse to earning a big paycheck for helping execs put presentations together. It can be used to create visual representations of patterns because it showcases a series of interconnected items. So while anyone can use it during a brainstorming session, for example, corporate designers will find a myriad of uses for this app’s unique capabilities.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this quest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

• Spy Cam $9.99 ->$5.99
• Security Camera $4.99 -> $2.99
• Memory Cleaner $5.99 -> $3.99
• Handy Calculator $1.99 -> $0.99
• Lines $1.99 -> $0.99

Girl with a Heart of tells the story of Raven, an eleven-year-old member of the Dark race who has been separated from her parents during a crippling attack by the Light’s army. As her subterranean city’s defenses collapse, Raven makes a shocking discovery: the artificial heart beating in her chest is imbued with a power that can help save her people, if only she can learn to use it. Now she needs to gain a better understanding of her role and the possible impacts her choices will have — and she must choose the right path, while there’s still time to make a difference.

With unique, conversation-based gameplay inspired by the interactive fiction and adventure game genres, Girl with a Heart of has a thought-provoking storyline and multiple endings determined by decisions the player makes on Raven’s behalf. The game’s philosophical and symbolic undercurrents will leave players mulling over the story’s implications long after the narrative has ended.

Girl with a Heart of sells for $5.99 on PC and Mac, and $2.99 on mobile platforms:

• The PC and Mac versions are available from the Bent Spoon Games website and select portals. For a full list of purchase options, visit http://www.bentspoongames.com/gwh.
• The iOS version, a Universal App that works on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, can be purchased from the App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/app/girl-with-a-heart-of/id475502562
• The Android version is on Android Market: https://market.android.com/search?q=com.bentspoongames.gwh

About Bent Spoon Games

Bent Spoon Games is a (not yet incorporated) company founded by Alexei Andreev in 2011 to create video games based on ideas of rationality and transhumanism. The company’s first game, Girl with a Heart of, was created by Andreev and a small team of contractors and friends. To learn more, please visit http://www.bentspoongames.com.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlvjR2MltXg

Enjoy!

This handy tool has some astounding features to make business card handling really simple. Just take a snapshot of the Business cards using the app’s special shake reduction camera and let it save the images automatically. By tapping the ‘Recognize’ button, users can make the app to recognize the information and classify the contacts into various groups according to it. If the card has any web address, users can move to that address just by tapping on it. It can recognize major languages such as French, English, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch.

I had tried a lot of apps for business card scanning before, but character recognition was the biggest problem with them. I have to type everything manually, after all the hard work. However, WorldCard Mobile does things smooth, smart and accurate. That is why this app excels in its category.

Using this cost-effective, brilliant app, business people like me can attend business meets with confident. WorldCard Mobile can really replace all your huge old wallets and will let you deal business cards in a much easier and smarter way.

Rating 5/5 Stars

Buy it.

WorldCard Mobile - business card reader & business card scanner
Developer: Penpower Inc.

Rated: 4+

Price: $6.99 Download

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Here’s the full list of games included in this sale:

• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard $6.99 -> $0.99
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard HD $6.99 -> $0.99
• NOVA 2 $6.99 ->$0.99
• NOVA 2 HD $6.99 -> $0.99
• Dungeon Hunter 2 $6.99 -> $0.99
• Dungeon Hunter 2 HD $6.99 -> $0.99
• Shadow Guardian $5.99 -> $0.99
• Shadow Guardian HD $6.99 -> $0.99
• Spider-Man: Total Mayhem $6.99 -> $0.99
• Spider-Man: Total Mayhem HD $6.99 -> $0.99

If I were to take a guess, this sale will probably end sometime this weekend, so like I said earlier, take advantage of this sale while you can. Enjoy!

With gesture-based controls familiar to anyone who has played games like Infinity Blade or even Angry Birds, The Dark Meadow is an accessible core gaming experience for everyone that reveals new layers and new secrets every time you play it,” said Chip Sineni creative director of Phosphor Games Studios.  “While we are extremely excited with the final results, we are looking forward to delivering additional content in the coming months to expand the world of The Dark Meadow.”

The Dark Meadow is a visually charged, combat intensive world of exploration.  You awake in a hospital uncertain of how you arrived there or why.  An old man warns of a beautiful witch whose minions roam the halls seeking the living.  It is only when the witch is destroyed that you will be released from this unrelenting torment.
As you explore the photo-realistic world, you will need both your crossbow for ranged combat as well as your sword for in close, melee combat.  Gesture-based “pull back and fire” as well as slashing combat will be instantly recognizable to iOS players, and node-based movement through the world makes navigation simple and perfectly paced.

Role-playing game mechanics enhance the exploration, as a wide variety of items are secreted throughout the world – from hidden scraps of paper that reveal the mystery of your imprisonment, to money which can be used to purchase better equipment and weapons.

Dark Meadow is available now at the App Store for $5.99 and is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Italian.

Dark Meadow
Developer: Phosphor Games, LLC

Rated: 12+

Price: $5.99 Download

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About Phosphor Games Studio

Based in Chicago, Phosphor Games Studio is a top-tier development studio comprised of experienced video game designers with a track record of producing financially successful and critically acclaimed titles across a variety of genres – from hardcore first-person shooters and MMOs to sports and casual games.  Phosphor Games was tapped by Microsoft to develop SpacePop, one of the five activities found in Microsoft’s launch title, Kinect Adventures, and one of the first Kinect games to use pure full body and spatial depth movement for gameplay.  More information can be found online at www.phosphorgames.com, on Facebook or via Twitter @phosphorgames

Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Unreal, Unreal Development Kit, UDK, Unreal Engine, UE3, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Playpen Studios

In Skillz, players select a DJ and strive for superstardom, gaining fans by scratching and tapping their way through original remixes of popular tracks from Kid Cudi vs Crookers, People Under the Stairs, Diplo, Bassnectar and more. Additional tracks will be available for download in the future, and an Android and PC release are also planned.

“We’re blown away by the game’s performance right out the gate and humbled by the overwhelmingly positive response that we’re seeing from gamers,” said Joe Gilbertson, co-founder of Playpen Studios. “We’ve dedicated the last five years of our life to this game and can’t believe that everything fell into place with the emergence of tablet devices as a viable gaming platform. Skillz lets anyone experience what it’s like to be a club DJ with a library of hot, original tracks from popular labels. We can’t wait for more people to pick it up and enjoy – the more downloads there are, the more tracks we’ll be releasing for download!”

Skillz for iPad
Developer: Play Pen Studios Ltd

Rated: 4+

Price: $5.99 Download

For more information about Skillz

• Visit the website: www.skillzthedjgame.com
• Watch on Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/skillzdjgame
• Follow on Twitter: www.twitter.com/skillzthedjgame
• Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Skillz-The-DJ-Game

Update #1 – To thank you all for making Infinity Blade so successful, we’re giving you even more awesome new free stuff!

- 5 new Swords, 5 new Shields, 5 new Helmets, and 1 new set of Armor – Collect and Master them all!
- Maximum Character Level raised from 40 to 45!
- New Enemy – The MARROW FIEND! This creature is rumored to devour its victims, taking their bones for its blade and shield…
- Because it’s awesome, you can now listen to your own music while playing INFINITY BLADE!
- PURCHASE GOLD! Due to popular demand, we have added the ability to buy extra Gold via in-app purchase!
- Optimizations and minor Bug fixes

Hopefully this will hold all of us over until next year or until the next update is released. Epic Games has said there’s more updates on the way and it will be really interesting to see what they continue to do with the game. In other news, Epic Games has said that they don’t plan on dropping the price of Infinity Blade anytime soon, so, if you are waiting for a sale, you might as well pick it up now. Infinity Blade is a universal app, costs $5.99, and weighs in at 331 MB.

Infinity Blade on the App Store.

Gameplay 10/10

Infinity Blade is a game-play based game. Shouldn’t all games be game-play based, you ask? Well yeah, but they’re not. Despite having the best graphics of any iPhone game to-date, Infinity Blade is not about exploring the beautiful world in which the adventure takes place. Open-world RPG exclusive fans will be disappointed to find out that this is not one to add to that genera. Infinity Blade takes place entirely (at least while out of combat) on a tap and move basis. By tap to move I mean you choose a location and there will be a short cut-scene of you moving there and low-and-behold, you will end up there.  Once there, you can look around and pick up money or health potions scattered about. Usually you move about once before encountering an enemy. Once you do you’ll approach in a menacing way and have a stare-down. From here you can initiate a battle or tap the info button to display some minor info.  Once a battle has started the real fun begins. All battles take place purely on a swipe and tap basis. Every swipe gesture you make is mimicked by your avatar, you swipe left, and he swings his sword to the left. Your opponent will be throwing similar strikes and you must either parry, dodge or block his attack. Parrying is done by matching his swipe, dodging by tapping either the left or right dodge button and blocking by hitting the block button. Block too many times and your shield could break, meaning you’ll take damage once you block henceforth. Dodging is your best bet but it can be difficult to figure out which direction his attack is coming from and then time the dodge just right. If he swings to the left, you dodge to the left, just under his sword. dodge to the right and you’ll step right into his attack. Later on in the game, precision and timing are completely crucial and every attack must be timed just right. The depth to the battles is amazing and every one is a pulse-pounding battle to the finish. Every encounter plays out like a very long cut-scene, yet you control the action. Most battles come in stages of three parts, after damaging him so much, you’ll knock him back and continue fighting. After the final knock back, you’ll finish off your opponent in some awesome, grotesque way, goring him, knocking him off a bridge or just plain old stabbing him through the head. I’ve been head-butted, kicked and smashed in this game, the battles are simply full of surprises. The whole point is to make it to the end of the game and battle the God-King, through a cut-scene filled with an exotic yet brutal language (Sub-titles provided) you’ll learn that your family has tried to end the God-King’s reign of terror for a while and your just one in a long line. The first time through, you’ll most likely be killed, handing off the role to your son, who is stronger thanks to all the armor, weapons,  gold and experience you left him (Generous, that God-king, though a tyrant he may be). Every blood-line is driven by avenging your father. This blood-line is apparently not known for their good grades in probability and statistics (Stay in school kids) yet still they attempt this challenge giving you plenty of reasons to continue playing through the game. Although you restart with your fathers stats and gear, more gear can be bought in the store with the gold you get by defeating enemies, finding chests, or looking around the landscape. You can level up by the experience gained from your items, at the end of a battle, the total experience pool is evenly split between your helmet, armor, shield, weapon and ring. Once you master an item, completed by filling the meter of experience, you sometimes gain a bonus but no experience will earned from that item any longer. Once you level up you can increase your stats, an important thing in Infinity Blade.

Graphics 10/10

The graphics in Infinity Blade are spectacular, the best to be seen in an iPhone game to date. The game runs on Unreal Engine and the graphics are as crisp and clear as they come. Every detail on the armor or even the ground is superbly thought out. The enemies are scary, the sun reflects realistically and even the walls are pleasant to study. If graphics are your selling point, this is the game for you. On my iPhone 4, this game handles beautifully. On anything less, it might get a bit rough. I had minimal slow downs, although some were to be had. Nothing that harmed game-play was seen in my time with the game. Everything ran smooth and beautiful, just as an Unreal Engine game should.

Sound 10/10

There are superb sounds for everything in this game. The grunts your foes make, the slashes and even the armor clinking as you walk are amazing. The language the characters speak is very convincing and extremely well done. Some of the best sound I’ve heard in an iPhone game, it truly throws you deeper in the realm that is, Infinity Blade.

Longevity 10/10

Infinity Blade virtually does not have to end and only gets harder and harder. You can keep replaying through the castle which is no chore at all to do. A list of promised update features (Including Multi-player via Apple Gamecenter) seems to only add to the longevity of an already full featured game. The multi-player, demoed during the Apple keynote, looked amazing and with a combat-system like this, I would get this game just for the multi-player.

Cost – 10/10

At $5.99 USD, Infinity Blade is worth every last cent based on what is included. Higher prices have been paid for less and this game can take on any other title in the app store. Although on the higher end of the price spectrum, this game is incredibly worth it.

Conclusion 50/50 – 10/10

With a perfect score, this game will certainly exceed your expectations. In all my hopes of this game being an open-world RPG, I hardly even noticed it wasn’t once I got into the game. For everything Infinity Blade is not, what it is will blow you away anyways. If you have any interest in awesome gaming in your pocket, Infinity Blade will meet the call with every swing of every massive sword, and every rumble of every humongous foe that falls at your feet. Beyond the words that can be used to describe this game, simply playing it, is the only way to truly understand the beauty of this game and the gargantuan sword fights that await. Chair Entertainment has an Epic title on their hands and I have a feeling every game released from this point on will be examined next to this title. The bar has been raised.

Infinity Blade on the App Store.