At FiftyThree, we build tools for mobile creation. Start on Paper. Create with Pencil. fiftythree.com
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REMIX! WITH CREATIVEMORNINGS
This month we’ve partnered with popular breakfast lecture series CreativeMornings to bring you 31 Days of Collaboration. It’s no secret that there is a breadth of talent across both of our communities, so what better way to bring everyone together than with a month of collaboration?
In the spirit of CreativeMornings’ July theme, the CM team will be featuring remixes made with Paper from around the world.
To participate, check out the CreativeMornings announcement or head straight over to their Mix account and start remixing.
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PermalinkFiftyThree Newsletter 6.26 Edition
We’ve always loved seeing Paper sketches of animals and their habitats, and this week we felt particularly grateful that our community is so environmentally aware.
Like many others, we were saddened by a new study showing that human impact is causing mass animal extinction at an alarming rate. To remind us that our choices matter, we dug up some of our favorite sketches of the planet we call home.
Also, if you’ve been wanting a Pencil, take our product survey for a chance to win one of ten sustainably harvested Walnut Pencils!
With a summit of over 12,000 feet, Mt. Fuji isn’t just the tallest mountain in Japan, it’s also an active volcano. As Earth’s temperature continues to rise, so has Mt. Fuji’s, and researchers speculate an eruption is long overdue. Brooklyn-based illustrator Nicole Cleary shows us how to savor the majestic beauty of Fuji with her step-by-step drawing guide using Paper.
Beneath the world we know is an entirely different one, both magical and mysterious. Beijing-based architect and avid scuba diver Ye Ming sketches the creatures she encounters on her dives, such as these clown fish, who are known to inhabit coral reefs. Called the rainforests of the sea, coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine life (via).
Mixer C Roy captures wildlife at the intersection of land and water with this stylized illustration of an alligator and bobcat lurking in a swamp. Contrary to folklore, swamps are not mosquito-filled wastelands, but a valuable source of food, nutrients, and timber to people and animals alike.
TAKE OUR SURVEY. WIN A PENCIL.
We’d love your feedback as we develop the next generation of creator tools. Please fill out our quick product survey, and you’ll be automatically entered to win one of ten sustainably harvested Walnut Pencils!
TIPS OF THE WEEK: COMBINE PAPER WITH IMAGES + YOU’RE INVITED
Did you know that you can export pages from Paper without a background? Go to Paper’s Settings, tap on Paper, and turn off the setting for “Include Page Color When Exporting Images.” This will create a .PNG file with a transparent background, which lets you layer your sketches and lettering on top of any background in a third party editing program.
On Wednesday, July 15th, come meet members of our team and fellow FiftyThree fans in Los Angeles at our first LA remixer co-hosted with our friends This Is Ground. Learn how the TIG team uses Paper and Pencil to design their line of leather accessories. There’ll be food, drinks, and remixing fun! Space is limited so be sure to RSVP.
Featured Paper sketch by Rachel Haynes
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PermalinkFIFTYTHREE NEWSLETTER 6.19 EDITION
What could you do with 100 days of making?
That’s the question behind #The100DayProject, a captivating global exploration of the creative process. Inspired by Elle Luna, author of The Crossroads of Should and Must, in collaboration with The Great Discontent, participants from over 60 countries are making something for 100 consecutive days!
This week, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite ongoing projects, along with two great Tips of the Week from Elle and Tina Essmaker, co-founder of The Great Discontent, on how to keep creating – even when you don’t feel like it.
Blogger Lauren Wager runs Color Collective, a designers’ resource for color inspiration. For her 100 day project, aptly named #100DayPantoneProject, Lauren pairs Pantone chips with found objects to “take a break from the screen and focus on the beauty of color in real life,” inspiring her to see color in a whole new way.
One of our favorite 100 day projects is #100DaysofMakingExcuses by Lise Yellen, using our iPad app Paper. Lise’s excuses range from silly to sincere, and will resonate with anyone who’s ever had to fudge the truth!
In #The100DayReminder, startup consultant Michael S Galpert experiments with different techniques and mobile apps to visualize the mantra “love yourself.”
Uber designer and Color Monster creator Zhen Zeng threw caution to the wind and let fate decide her project, #100Drawingsof2Things. On day one, Zhen wrote different nouns on 200 pieces of paper. Every day, she picks two words at random which then become the subject of her miniature watercolor paintings.
At FiftyThree, we’ve been getting into the making spirit, too! Don’t miss 100 Days of Newfoundland by Tara, 100 Days of Boring Bugs by Heather, 100 Days of Lebowski by Scott, and 100 Days of Caribbean Patterns by Paula.
TIP OF THE WEEK: HOW TO KEEP CREATING
100 days of continuous creating is a feat of endurance! The leading ladies behind #The100DayProject share their secrets on how to keep the inspiration flowing:
Focus on the process, not the outcome.
Forget about perfecting the outcome, which can paralyze you creatively, and commit to an action instead. Paint, draw, dance, write, perform, do what you do. Enjoy the experience without putting so much pressure on the end result. – Tina Essmaker
Partner up.
When we’re on our own, it can be tempting to shrug off a deadline or not push ourselves when we’d rather stop. But when we’re in a group? No way! If you stop, everyone will notice! Having an accountability partner, especially for creative work that is so often done alone, is an incredible gift. Even better? Thousands of people from around the world, all doing the 100 Day Project together. – Elle Luna
Remember, you can start your own 100 Day Project anytime! Sign up for #The100DayProject newsletter to follow along during 100 days of making.
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PermalinkPencil Summer Sale
Get creative with Pencil this summer! Our award-winning digital stylus makes a thoughtful gift for dads and grads, and is the perfect companion for capturing ideas wherever you go. Pair Pencil with our iPad app Paper or any of our great partner apps, from Adobe Creative Cloud to Astropad.
Pencil is on sale for a limited time only. Don’t miss out.
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PermalinkGet Started with Think Kit
Today, we launched Think Kit: three tools – Diagram, Fill, and Cut – that make it fast and easy to draw charts, diagrams, graphs, flows, wireframes, and models. Think Kit is entirely free, and comes as an automatic update for existing Paper users!
For more pro tips, follow FiftyThree on Mix.
PermalinkSEND A PAPER CARD TO MOM FOR MOTHER’S DAY
Last week, we co-hosted a card design contest on Mix with Felt, an iPad app that lets you send physical, handwritten cards anywhere in the world. Out of 1,800 entries, twenty designs made with Paper were selected and are now available to order and send from the Felt app! See all the winners here.
Why not surprise Mom with a card for Mother’s Day, May 10th? What’s more. Felt is kindly offering FiftyThree fans 50% off all cards. Just download Felt in the App Store and enter LOVEPAPER at checkout.
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PermalinkSend a Greeting Card with FiftyThree and Felt
Ever wish you could send a greeting card with a Paper illustration on it? To celebrate this Mother’s Day, we are partnering with the Felt team to do just that. Felt lets you order and send physical, handwritten greeting cards right from your iPad!
As part of our collaboration, Felt is hosting a design contest on Mix. Twenty greeting card designs made with Paper will be selected to become cards, which will be sold through the Felt iPad app. Winners will receive a portion of proceeds from each card sold.
To participate, remix this sketch by Felt on Mix. While Mother’s Day is around the corner, card designs for any occasion are welcome. Create your card design before Wednesday, April 29th 11:59pm PST to qualify.
Want to send a Felt card? Felt is offering fans of FiftyThree 50% off on all cards, or $2 off on orders that include photos. Just enter LOVEPAPER during checkout. Buy your cards soon to ensure they arrive by Mother’s Day on May 10th. For contest rules and eligibility, visit feltapp.com/fiftythree.
We can’t wait to see – and send – what you create!
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PermalinkPencil Support Comes to Astropad
Meet our latest Pencil partner, Astropad, a beautiful graphic design app that lets you mirror your Mac screen right onto your iPad. Pair Pencil with Astropad to draw directly into Photoshop or any app on your Mac, and turn your iPad into a professional graphics tablet!
The latest Astropad update (version 1.1), released today, taps into Pencil’s special features, including Surface Pressure and eraser. Learn more about Astropad here.
Interested in enabling Pencil in your project? Sign up for access to our SDK, and see where to buy Pencil here.
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PermalinkINTRODUCING BACKUP AND ACTIVITY CENTER
Today we are happy to introduce two frequently requested features, backup for journals and Activity Center, a new place in Paper and Mix that lets you view all Mix activity in one place.
Back That Journal Up
With the latest Paper update, you can now back up private copies of your journals in the cloud! Backup is automatic when you create a new FiftyThree account. For existing users who are already logged in, you can opt-in to backup once you install the latest version of Paper. We hope this offers a little peace of mind in case your iPad is ever damaged, stolen, or you move to a new device.
All Your Activity, All In One Place
Instantly see if you have new starred or remixed creations, view people who have recently followed you, and tap on creations in Activity Center to immediately open them in Mix. Activity Center also helps you connect with more Mixers. If you see a user has followed you or starred your creation, tap on their avatar to see their creations and profile. Then tap “+” to follow them. Instant new friends!
Learn more about backup and Activity Center at support.fiftythree.com.
Version 2.4 is now available in the App Store. If you enjoy using Paper, please leave a review. It means a lot to our team!
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PermalinkCalling NYC-Area Thinkers
Are you a NYC-area strategist, analyst, planner, or otherwise left-brainer thinker who loves Paper? If so, and you would like to be involved in something interesting, please email tia@fiftythree.com.
PermalinkThe Next Chapter for FiftyThree
Three years ago, we launched Paper and so began our quest to build indispensable tools for the everyday creator. Since then Paper has been downloaded over 13 million times and been used to create over 150 million ideas! In late 2013, we introduced Pencil, which quickly became the top-selling digital stylus in the world. Last fall we released Mix, a new service in Paper that allows everyone to find inspiration and build off of each others’ ideas. What’s more, we just welcomed our one millionth member on Mix!
For a growing team like ours, these have been significant achievements, but there remains a great deal for us to do. Every day we hear from high school and university educators who want to use Mix in the classroom, or people who work with teams and clients who want quicker, more human ways to present information without having to navigate finicky software. We want to reach and help these creators, too.
Today, we’re happy to welcome our new partners Dayna Grayson and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) to FiftyThree. Alongside our existing investors, NEA will help us grow our team and product offerings, particularly in business and education. As a leading investor in widely used enterprise services like Box, Tableau, and Workday, NEA is a great partner to help us build a new crop of tools for creative thinking.
Our team is committed to building the best mobile tools for creativity, and we’re excited to share that we’ve already begun. Meet Think Kit, the next generation of tools coming soon to Paper.
Launching this spring, Think Kit will dramatically speed up the creation of diagrams, charts, and presentation sketches for those times when you need to quickly show an idea to a client, to your team, or to a lecture hall full of students.
With your incredible support, we’ve made great progress for which we’re grateful. Thank you. Now, an even bigger adventure awaits! We’re thrilled to play a part in making mobile tools accessible to more people, and we hope you will, too. Together, let’s carve a new space to think.
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