Design Portfolio

One of the first things I wanted to do was create a slide show of my design portfolio for use at business events or to show client prospects. I used the Keynote iPad app, which is Apple's version of Powerpoint. I easily saved images from my website to the iPad's photo album and from there I used one of Keynote's pre-made templates and created an album that can be set to automatic loop display. The presentation can be displayed on Kindle for iPad or iPhone, in iBooks via the Cloud, or easily emailed in PowerPoint or PDF. Since I create my website in Apple's iWeb program, there is a lot of design crossover, so my mobile portfolio closely resembles my website in look and feel. And finally, if I wanted to present only certain images from my portfolio, or create a quick "moodboard" of design ideas for someone, it would all be easily accomplished on the fly as well.

Calendars, Contact Management and To-Do Lists

I use Google's calendar online which is synched to my iPhone and iPad's calendar app. Updates on one mean auto-updates on all. The address book on my computer is also tied to those in the iPhone and iPad via the cloud. Eventually I'm planning on migrating all contacts to Bento so that I can track every possible type of contact, from suppliers and vendors to clients and prospects in an easier, more complete fashion. Bento has iPhone/Pad apps as well, so when it's all up and running, I can have 24/7 access to my contacts regardless of where I am. I love TeuxDeux for quick and easy to-do lists. Available online and mobile, this simple and elegant app makes the to-do list as easy as a pad of paper, but legible!

Quick Design Ideas and Inspirations

There seem to be thousands of apps for interior design. For quick floor plans, I like both Floorplans and Mark on Call (MOC), both of which allow for very quick and easy creation of basic floor plans and room furniture layouts. Personally, I wouldn't spend a lot of time mastering an iPad app for floor plans as the limitations outweigh the benefits of mobility. I'm finding Moodboard to be quite handy, especially for blogging. You can create a quick board using images from the photo album, camera or Web. For clients, I can see creating a quick board of furniture and accessories so that the client can get a feel for the direction of a design, or give approval for a purchase. It also would be very easy to import a floor plan image right to the moodboard for a well-rounded visual of a space. I've also used Pages, Apple's version of Word, to create moodboards. The graphics capability is excellent and it pretty much replaced Adobe Photoshop for me when it came to creating visual images. I use it on both my iPad and desktop computer. Pages can be saved to PDF and easily converted to JPG or PNG for sharing.

Any of the "look book" image based apps are also very handy for offering inspiration. Other apps such as Pinterest offer the ability to curate a collection of inspiration images and do some product research.

Knowledge is Power: Things that Make My Life Easier

Any app that gives me quick answers on the go is a winner. I love the Kravet e-Design Assistant app; I can look up a fabric to find pricing and availability. I often use it while actually in my local Kravet showroom as it's quicker than asking a sales person. Stone and tile companies such as Dupont and Daltile have nifty product apps to view colors and textures in hi-res. Clip for use in a moodboard or to email a client, or even order samples online.

Blogging on the Go

One of my favorite new apps is Blogsy. Any image from my photo album can be easily integrated in a post that uploads seamlessly to my Blogger blog. I've found that I can’t create blogposts directly in blogger via the iPad, so Blogsy acts as a nifty little interface.

While all these apps are fun as well as useful, it's important to remember that nothing beats seeing something in person and touching it. While the paint picker apps from the big paint companies are clever, they aren't accurate. I've tested them all on their own paint chip palettes and none have selected the correct color. The way light reflects off a surface or how it will feel underfoot cannot be gauged in a photo.

iPad Apps for Designers [* available on Android]

• Keynote
• Pages
• Kindle *
• Bento
• TeuxDeux *
• Floorplans
• Mark on Call
• Moodboard
• Pinterest *
• Kravet - e-Design Assistant
• Daltile
• Dupont – My Surface
• Blogsy

Photo credit: Top image: Pottery Barn Saddle Leather Tablet Case. All other images courtesy of Apple, Inc.

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Linda Merrill is a residential interior decorator based in Massachusetts. Linda's design style can be described as "comfortable luxury" and she believes in working closely with clients throughout the entire design process. Her clients are mainly located between metro-Boston and Cape Cod and the Islands. Linda writes a nationally regarded design blog called ::Surroundings:: and is the host of the design podcast series The Skirted Roundtable.