Draw like it’s 1989 with this Kid Pix web app
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It has the expected tools like paint brushes, rubber stamps, shapes, and letters, all scored by Kid Pix’s highly memorable sound effects. The sounds and Kid Pix’s somewhat inscrutable interface are the real draw here. The program’s inherent playfulness encourages you to explore, even if you’re not a kid anymore. You can see a spokesperson from Kid Pix’s first publisher Broderbund talk through some of the original app’s features below:
I didn’t remember using Kid Pix at first, but pulling up the web version of Kid Pix and stamping a random assortment of strawberries only to be greeted with the app’s distinct THWACK sound effect, immediately confirmed that yes, I am child of the 90s. You might be similarly stirred by the dull KABOOM paired with Kid Pix’s “Firecracker” tool. Or the bizarre WOOOW that accompanies the “Doorbell” tool. Kid Pix is refreshingly weird in a way that most software isn
Everyone should mess with this painting app from the 80s Create your masterpieces Ivan covers Big Tech, India, policy, AI, security, platforms, and apps for TNW. That s one heck of a mixed bag. He likes to say Bleh. Ivan covers Big Tech, India, policy, AI, security, platforms, and apps for TNW. That s one heck of a mixed bag. He likes to say Bleh.
When I started using computers as a child, I naturally gravitated towards making weird drawings and strange shapes on Microsoft Paint. But there were a ton of apps that were popular before that.
Programmer Vikrum Nijjar has resurrected one of them called Kid Pix in a browser window. The app was originally released for Macs in 1989. If the name doesnât sound familiar, it might be because the app was before your time (and mine): it was originally re
Packaging for the Asciiware Sphere 360 PlayStation controller (photo courtesy of Hock Wah Yeo)
When Hock Wah Yeo was hired by the game publisher Velocity, the head of the company gave him an unusual order: “Scare me.”
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Let’s say you go to the store and buy a video game. What does it look like? Chances are, it comes in a plastic box, roughly the size of a DVD case, and there’s a logo on the top that tells you what platform it’s for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo. It’s easy to understand, and it’s easy to fit on shelves. Retailers like it. The platform owners like it. This is the way it’s been for decades simple, predictable, and safe.
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The best part of primary school was heading on down to the computer lab to “learn” or whatever. The best part of being in said computer lab was, of course, Kid Pix.
Now TikToker/artist
@tristen046 (who also goes by
Ten) has harnessed Kid Pix to create the kinds of artworks my 8-year-old self could only
Have the photos allowed you to reconnect with old friends you’d lost touch with?
It’s been great! I have had welcome discussions with several people who meant a lot to me years ago but I haven’t connected with since.
Are you still able to connect with friends physically during the pandemic, perhaps outdoors with masks in small groups? Or have you been restricted only to virtual relationships?
I pretty much stay at home and communicate electronically. I think the Facebook Friends project was, in part, a response to the pandemic.
Take me back to the time you made all these pictures. What was your motivation for making them at the time? What was your general shooting process?