Design Secret #4: Taking Advantage of Behance Mobile Apps

Behance is commonly well-known as a web resource for sharing your design and illustration work, either for the intent of creating a stress-free and highly discoverable portfolio to show your clients, or otherwise for collecting vital feedback, which is usually a lot more constructive than Dribbble.

Make no mistake: I actually adore Dribbble for its simplicity and modest user interface and use it more than Behance most of the time. But that being said, Dribbble doesn’t have so much as an official iOS or Android application, whereas Behance not only covers this area, but actually offers a few other apps which are simply a delight to use.

It also belongs to Adobe, so you can rightly expect a more seamless workflow when using their applications, such as Adobe Sketch, which allows you to digitally illustrate and upload to Behance as both a WIP (Work In Progress) and ultimately a finished work.

Lets have a quick look at the notable ways that we can access Behance outside of the web client. You might be quite surprised to find out that some of these even exist… because I sure was!

Creative Cloud Via Your Desktop

Behance is naturally integrated into Adobe’s Creative Cloud application and it’s quite likely that you’re not utilising it (even if you did realise it was there).

In actuality it’s surprisingly full-featured, and you don’t need to browse the web version of Behance every time you habitually check for updates. You can access Behance in the “Community” section of the Creative Cloud app and also receive updates in the “Home” feed.

Behance for iOS/Android

Perhaps an obvious mention – so I won’t talk about this in too much detail – but it is worth noting that the mobile clients (both iOS and Android) make it exponentially easier to browse artwork and designers. It can be a useful way to kill time on the subway (you don’t live without checking Facebook for 10 minutes, right?) not to mention a quick and easy way to feel inspired for your next project while on the move.

Creative Portfolio by Behance

If you need a mobile solution to showcasing your high-resolution work even when not connected to the internet, then this app is for you. I applaud Behance’s decision to keep this feature separate from the main mobile applications, because Creative Portfolio makes it extremely easy to speedily hand over a small device to your clients in interviews, without them accidentally triggering follows and appreciations on your behalf.

It’s also a trouble-free task to make changes to your Behance Portfolio or WIP’s (Work In Progress’s) from the app itself. Oh, that “kill me now” feeling when you’re sitting in your clients waiting room and you’ve spotted a mistake, or typo, somewhere!

Wallpaper by Behance

Every single day I have a beautiful new desktop background thanks to Behance’s wallpaper app. I change it manually depending on my mood and I filter them by my favourite types of art (usually typography or digital art for me); it brightens up my day and when I’m feeling indecisive I let Behance choose one for me, where I often save the designs I really like and choose them again later. Sadly, this one is only available for Mac OS X, but I cannot recommend it enough!

Just choose how often you’d like the wallpapers to rotate (unless you’d rather do it yourself of course) and you’re all set – inspiration right there on your desktop, all day long.

Conclusion

I didn’t know about the Creative Portfolio or Wallpaper apps until recently. I’ve never heard anybody speak of them, and so for that reason I’m going to claim them as hidden gems. If you’re not active on Behance, at least sign up for the epic wallpapers, but if you are, hopefully these hidden gems will only enhance your experience as a member of the Adobe Creative Cloud. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

• Isn’t it about time that Dribbble started contending in the mobile arena?
• Should Behance cater for Windows desktop users on all of their apps?
• Does Behance create a unified experience through all its supported devices, allowing us to seek inspiration and manage our work even when on a mobile device or without an internet connection?