Last week, we began a <a href="#" title="#">LINK</a>new series here on The Beginners Lens...a backstage look into the world of app development. [imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="500" height="340"  alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tilt1.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>How would you describe Art & Mobile, as a company, and what are the apps you offer?</h4>

Art & Mobile is my personal application brand. I mainly make applications for the field of art and design, and the apps turn mobile devices into art-making machines! The major applications that I have made are TiltShift Generator and QuadCamera. TiltShift Generator is for making fake miniature photos, and the other enables you to take multiple photos with your mobile camera.

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="500" height="374"  alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tilt2.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>How many developers do you have on your team? Do you all work from the same location or are you globally based?</h4>

Art & Mobile is my individual brand, for which I do both design and programming. Occasionally I have a few other people working with me, mainly friends who join the project. In particular, Takuma Mori was the main programmer for TiltShift Generator and I created the user interface.

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="500" height="374"  alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tilt3.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>Can you tell us about your flagship app, Tiltshift Generator, and give us a little bit of background on it?</h4>

Yep, as mentioned above my flagship app is TiltShift Generator. It was originally made for web and created with flash...I didn't originally intend for it to be an iPhone app.

The initial idea of an application for fake miniature is from photos taken by Naoki Honjo and other photographers. To understand the fake miniature effect better I bought 3 TiltShift Lens, the TS-E90mm, TS-E45mm, and TS-E17mm for Canon 5dMK2 DSLR. I then made prototype with flash and uploaded it to my website. I had a lot of people link to it via del.icio.us, and from the great response there, I decided to make an iPhone version. 

To start with, I actually made this app for my own use, so I made it as easy to use as possible. I also went through a very comprehensive user testing phase, working with flash and other platforms. The response to the app has been really great, and since it was published on iTunes, it's had approximately 1,500,000 downloads, which is an overwhelming response!

[imageeffect type="frame" align="aligncenter" width="500" height="333"  alt="" url="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/tilt4.jpg"  ]<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h4>What improvements will you be making to the app in the next update?</h4>

I would like to support <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/photoapplink-ties-iphone-photo-apps-together-to-make-multi-app-editing-simple/" title="PhotoAppLink Network">PhotoAppLink network.</a>  It's also been suggested that we integrate with Instagram, so we're considering that too. I'm also making a new tutorial on HOW to make fake miniature photos.