The iPhone app store’s first birthday is July 11, and what better way to celebrate than by downloading apps created by Texas animators? (Okay, there are probably plenty of better ways to celebrate – sex, drugs, arson – but this is a good way too.)
Flat Black Films is the Austin-based company behind the badass animation in Get Your War On, A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life, and three of its artists recently developed some pretty sweet apps. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Slaphappy, by Randall Cole
This two-player offering from Austin artist Randall Cole is easily the most ludicrous of the bunch, and I mean that as the highest compliment. Ever wondered what a slapping match would look like between a houseplant and a unicorn? Wonder no more. Slaphappy’s gameplay is delightfully simple – opposing players move up and down the screen, flinging their palms at each other – and the sound effects are straight-up goofy. My favorite character might be Sunshine, a hippy who cries out “Dude!” every time you redden his face, but more on him momentarily. $0.99
Action Countdown Timer, by Randall Cole
But wait, there’s more! (Billy Mays, RIP.) Cole’s first go at app design yielded this simple timer that features an old-fashioned wick and the option to blow up a variety of cartoonish bombs, not to mention a watermelon and a cupcake. If I’m boiling an egg (which I almost never do, but humor me), I’d much rather see icing smeared across my screen than listen to the annoying buzz of a timer. $0.99
Headspace, by Bob Sabiston
When he’s not costarring in Cole’s Slaphappy as Undead Doug From Accounting, Austin artist Bob Sabiston is the dude behind Rotoshop, the technology that made Flat Black famous. (You don’t animate over Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy with just any old software.) It’s no surprise that his Headspace app is an elegant blend of tech and design. Billed as a mind-mapping application, Headspace enables you to make colorful lists with subcategories and connections that you then can view in three dimensions, making for one trippy jaunt to the grocery store. $1.99
I’m The Decider – Coin Toss, by John Paul
This app from Austin artist John Paul, a.k.a. Sunshine, is the perfect tool for a society that embraces credit cards and half-cocked decisions. Not sure which one of your buddies to appoint to a high-level position and bereft of any coins in your pocket? Just pull out your iPhone, input the two choices, flick your wrist and watch a lifesize 1922 Peace Silver Dollar flip in the air. Just be sure not to actually let go of your phone. That would be bad, dude. $0.99
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Thank you for making my monthly internet fee worth wild.
(Daphne popping teh woody is icing on the cake. )
Though, I’d seen it before.
Europa and that swan are better though. There is a golden shower too.