‘Paper’ iPad App Partners With Moleskin – Raises $15m
A very interesting article published by Stuart Dredge for The Guardian this afternoon discusses the developers behind the uber popular app, Paper, FiftyThree in which in their latest Series A funding, they raised $15m and ‘explicitly outlined ambitions for “moving beyond touch and into the physical world of accessories” – drawing on its team’s hardware experience within Microsoft (Kinect, Xbox and the never-launched Courier) and Sonos’.
‘In 2013, FiftyThree has been taking Paper’s digital charms into the physical world. Earlier this year, it created a customised version of the app for the Fashion Rules exhibition at Kensington Palace in London, helping visitors design their own dresses while gazing at real royal frocks.
Today, it’s launching another partnership, with Moleskine, whose physical notebooks, journals and other products have been finding similar favour within the design community and beyond to Paper.
Their joint project is called Book, and involves Paper users choosing 15 pages of their sketches to turn into a printed book, with Moleskine handling the production (“handmade in the UK” apparently) and distribution. At $40 per book, they’re not cheap, but that’s no surprise given Moleskine’s brand’ – Stuart went on to say.
You can read the full post here.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
One Comment
Laurence Zankowski
Joanne,
I was pretty curious about this and evernote’s going into lifestyle / hardware partnerships. This may actually be a bigger trend over the next few months. There is only so far you can take apps with out running into bloat ware ( adobe c.c. ) . When i read that the Adoit jot had sold over a million units, i can see why certain app vendors want to extend their reach into physical markets.
Matter of fact, as I am writing this, I would, if I was a app dev, seriously think of physical markets along with software markets right at the beginning of app creation. There is a lot more to this, just watch.
Be well
Laurence