Exclusive Interview With Color Eyes – iPhone App Marketing Director, Jennifer Metayer
Color Eyes is a really simple yet effective app to literally change the color of eyes within a photograph. We wanted to find out more about this app and the developers behind it, read this interesting interview now.
The Beginning
Can you tell our readers how your app was originally thought of, what were your thoughts behind the marketplace, specifically?
Our goal for ColorEyes was to create an app that would be simple, easy to use and provide a realistic eye color effect. We noticed there were several apps for adding cartoon eyes within the App Store but quickly realized there was no app for changing just color. We seized the opportunity and I think we achieved our goal. The app is extremely easy to use: you just shoot or pick the photo, move a pair of sliders and that’s it!
Design
Can you tell us how you came up with the colors and themes ideas, design?
In developing all of our apps, we try to design around the iPhone user interface following Apple’s guidelines. We also created a custom made title screen to make the intro a little more appealing. We kept the overall look of the app neutral and minimalistic so it’s easy for users to stay focused on the most important part of the app – the eye color!
Target Market
Who do you see as the main target market for this app?
Though we certainly anticipated that photography enthusiasts would appreciate this app, we didn’t plan for any specific market beyond that. We have a wide range of users across many market segments.
Production Process
How long did it take from the original planning to the production process of your app?
Since we were able to borrow some of the technologies from our existing app Make a Face, the entire ColorEyes project took us only about four weeks, all the way from planning to final testing.
Sales
How do you view your sales, is there a good solid market for this style of app?
ColorEyes has had the strongest start out of all our apps thus far with thousands of copies sold in just the first three weeks. This strength continued even after the app moved out of the top 20 list in the Photography category, so we’re confident about its longterm potential.
Obstacles
What has been the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome regarding this app development?
It was very challenging to develop an app that would provide high quality final images. Even if you select a photo with good resolution, the iPhone always shrinks the photo to use less memory.
Third Party Apps
Would you consider developing apps for third parties?
Yes, definitely. We have strong experience in all facets of the development process, including analysis, design, coding, optimization and testing.
App Store
What have you learnt from the App Store since you launched your app?
With over 200,000 apps downloaded by 15 million users, it is very challenging to predict which apps will be best sellers and which will not. As the number of iPhone users around the globe continues to grow, the App Store market preferences and expectations evolve along with it. The key is to evolve at the same pace and be prepared for the next step.
Apple Support
Have Apple supported you well with your app?
Yes. The support and app approval process has improved significantly in the last six months. We recently had a problem displaying one of our other apps, iMargin, in the App Store. We requested support by email and the problem was fixed in literally just minutes!
The Future
What next, are you developing another app? Would you go for the same genre again, if not which?
Our future plans include several more apps in the Photography and Business and Productivity categories that turn some of our single-function apps into more complete solutions. The feedback we’ve received in these categories already has made us quite knowledgeable about what users are looking for in these areas, so it’s a logical next step.
The iPad
The Apple iPad – what are your thoughts about it and how do you think your app will integrate?
We know already that not all successful iPhone apps will see the same success simply by becoming iPad compatible. So far, we haven’t considered making ColorEyes compatible and most likely will not until Apple releases iPads with cameras.
Our Support
What do you think of our site, have we helped you market your app well – do you like our design – would you recommend us?
We hope your site will help us market ColorEyes and other iPhone apps in the future. Overall, we like your website’s design and content.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
