Mixel by Lascaux

Mixel was a stellar application for the iPad that was the first of its kind to offer an intuitive approach to creating art. The application enabled you to search the web for images and the interface made it very easy to layer images. Mixel also featured a social aspect that encouraged participants to support one another as well as invite others to remix their art. 

"Our goal with Mixel is to turn the act of art-making into something incredibly easy, fun and even addictive. Just as importantly, we also want art-making to be deeply social. Mixel is a social network of its own — you sign in with Facebook, and you can find and follow anyone on the network to see all the great work they’re producing. You can also comment, like and share the art, just as you would on any other social network." - Khoi Vinh

Mixel was so popular among creatives that a Facebook Community page was created by the Mixel community to continue the dialogue and provide extended ways to share ideas and resources. Below is gallery of Mixels that were created by the My Apple Podcast team. 

Mixel for the iPhone

Khoi Vinh discovered that Mixel for the iPad was not able to reach a broad range of audiences, thereby compelling the developers to consider how they could make the app more accessible. In an email to existing users, Vinh explained:

 "the Mixel community is not as large as it would have to be in order for us to sustain it as a business."

Mobile devices, iPhones as opposed to iPads, were apt to be used by more people, so moving Mixel to a mobile platform seemed like a logical choice from a business standpoint. Instead of going with the more creative approach to making art, which Mixel for the iPad was designed for, Mixel for the iPhone went with a more simplistic approach to making collages, providing read-made templates in the form of grids that could easily be used to combine images. This decision disappointed many members of the Mixel community, anticipating the eventual demise of both Mixel versions. The Lascaux team was eventually bought out by Etsy. Bazaart, another collage app, would eventually adopt many of the features provided by Mixel, but no other app has been able to capture the Integration of art/social interaction the way Mixel did. Below are some example of what the My Apple Podcast team  using Mixel for the iPhone.

Check out our farewell to Mixel YouTube review for a more detailed explanation of the Mixel application.