Art is now so much more than putting pencil to paper. In the 21^st century we have been introduced to a massive burst of technology that has changed the way we look at art. It’s now not as simple, but way more experimental and opens your work up to the world with the tap of a screen. In the realm of creative tech, there is a plethora of apps at your fingertips able to elevate your art (aka your business) to a whole new level. At CCAD (soon to be The Northern School of Art) we wanted to introduce you to our favourite platforms and apps which you’ll be needing to download ASAP.

To start with the basic, fail-safe trio, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With Facebook offering more of a business platform where you can easily connect with potential reach and Twitter keeping you on the button with instantaneous affairs, Instagram is the money-maker these days. There’s Pinterest which is a infinite source of mood-board material, creative ideas, hacks, recipes; you name it, Pinterest shows it, and Tumblr: one of the easiest platforms to make good content spread like wildfire. With it’s own inbuilt network to help share your content, it’s extremely easy to update your customers on your products and is a great tool for content marketing. If Tumblr’s working for you, then “Loop” is a great app for quick freehand animation which is directly uploaded to Tumblr – easy peasy! Check out “Artsy” which is the Pandora of classic and contemporary art, and “Field” which transforms your images into a sound – cool hey?!

For trend-spotting (a.k.a how you get ahead) these are the Apps you need! Colourlovers is a great resource when you’re at the early stages of branding or re-branding. When you’re thinking about innovative ways to differentiate your business from your competition, visit Colourlovers and explore colour schemes, patterns and upcoming trends. Similar to Colourlovers, Dribbble is a platform of graphic and user experience designers sharing their work. When you’re looking for new logos, interface design or even email design ideas, have a look at what the designers on Dribbble are doing. Remember, that’s three b’s. Pulse: Finally, keeping up with trends starts with keeping your finger on the news. It’s now available for you on your phone, tablet and in the web.