This is what you get when a member of The Shins makes a photo app
The Shins frontman James Mercer didn't set out to make an app. A heavy Instagram user, he simply wanted something to make a quick photo collage. But not the kind that just plops a few photos into a grid. You know, an actual collage, like the kind you made in elementary school.
But after hunting through the App Store, he was surprised that he couldn't find one. So he decided to make his own.
"It was just that moment of wanting something that didn't exist," says Mercer.
That was the genesis for Pasted, Mercer's whacky collage app that's due out next month (and just so happens to coincide with The Shins first album and tour in five years).
Pasted uses a combination of effects most users will be familiar with -- filters, stickers, brightly colored backdrops -- and a lot of masking, which enables the "homemade" look. Import a bunch of photos from your camera roll and the app uses some basic image recognition to detect which parts are likely to be the most interesting.
From there it creates a bunch of cutouts (you can customize them yourself as well) and you can layer stickers, stylized filters and the colorful backgrounds on top.
The aesthetic is a bit like Prisma -- if Prisma was more "punk rock."
Mercer, who is a self-described "not a tech guy," enlisted the help of Zeke Howard, a partner at the Portland-based design studio The Brigade, on the app. Though he says he was heavily involved in the aesthetic and user interface aspects of Pasted.
He's already designed T-shirts and cover art for his band's first single using the app and says he hopes other bands will do the same.
"I remember being at Kinkos back in the 90s making fliers for my band. You'd draw something, maybe write out some text or something, and then you'd blow it up and then you'd get that sort of posterization effect that happens with the Xerox.
"I would love to see bands able to do things on the fly when they're on tour."
As for whether the app is more of a side project or an actual business seems somewhat up in the air.
There are no firm plans for monetization, but he says they are toying with the idea of offering different sticker packs -- perhaps to promote bands they like or local artists -- for an in-app purchase.
When I I point out that a tour could be an excellent place to promote a new app as well, he concedes that he'd like to be able to share it with his fans, but is cautious about overselling it.
"I'll promote it, but in a gentle way," he says.
Topics SXSW
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
