The new Hipstamatic Hornbecker lens was released today as a part of NSW Always On FreePak. The other items in the FreePak were previously released in the Hipstamart.
The new addition to Hipstamatic’s lens collection was done in collaboration with photographer Chris Hornbecker, most notably renown for his work for Nike sportswear brand.
Honestly, I don’t know what to think of the latest Hipstamatic FreePak. Since the new pack is free — I assume also and especially thanks to Nike sponsorship — one could object there are no grounds for any criticism towards developers, feeding shameless promotional messages to their own loyal audience. However, I am sure I am not the only one annoyed at the notion of using a photo app so tightly connected with some huge brand I do not care about, to say the least; even if I cared about the brand, it would not change the way I feel towards this kind of promotional stratagem. Moreover, I don’t like the notion of using a filter bearing a not-so-subtle Nike logo on it. This is just one among the reasons I find myself using Hipstamatic less and less after every release. Before anybody points out that even iPhone/iPod has a Nike + iPod feature that comes with it by default, let me clarify that’s exactly the kind of corporate shit I don’t really like about Apple iPhone.
Detail of AO DLX Film in NSW Always On Freepak
The filters and lens in the NSW Always On FreePak in themselves are nothing to fuss about: pretty good, but also pretty average effects, but yeah, all that counts is if and how you can market them. Both AO BW and AO DLX are black and white films, the former featuring a white border with intense whites, attenuated nuances and noticeable vignetting, the latter featuring a black border and high contrast.
Hornbecker lens with AO BW and AO DLX films. Dude's tired of always working out.
The people behind Hipstamatic proved once more they are definitely very smart when it comes to devise effective marketing strategies.
I have found myself to be quite enamored with the B&W effects of the two Nike films. I think they were beautifully done. As for the “Nike” and/or “Swoosh” logo printed on to the border, I just crop out the border. I’m not overly fond of the borders on Hipstamatic anyway, and I do wish they would come out with a borderless film.
Seriously? You’re upset over an inverted swoosh and a Nike logo that you can barely read? I think it could have been much more blatant if the intention was to plaster marketing propaganda everywhere. I think you’re making way too big of a deal about it.
I find Hipstamatic very pathetic in their attempts to be hip at all costs. The previous pack, what was it called? The DIY one. It was really awful anyway. Like Scott said, I could cut the border, but why bother? There are tons of other apps that don’t force you into a stupid format.
The DIY pack? I assume you are speaking of the Bondi hipstapak?
People are usually so pissed when developers add logos or other kinds of ads in their apps, even when the apps are free, yet some of these same people do not care if it’s Hipstamatic doing that. That’s pretty stupid fanboyism. Other developers were bashed in more than a few occasions for adding a logo to their photographic borders and Hipstamatic does the same and most users seem so apologetic, like it were different in their case. Logos in photo apps suck, however you look at it.
Right On!
Comments on this entry are closed.