Any graphic artist worth their salt probably knows all the keyboard shortcuts to Adobe’s Photoshop/Illustrator software, as is probably the case with any professional working in the music, movie, or programming industry, just to give some examples. However instead of relying on just shortcuts, wouldn’t it be better if there were external controls that we could use? That’s where Palette comes in, a set of modular controllers that one can attach to their laptop to bring with them on the go, or if they do not have space to set up a huge studio environment like a sound engineer or film editor would.
The great thing about Palette is that it is modular, meaning that it’s up to you how many controllers you need. These controllers range from dials, to buttons, switches, and even sliders for the sound engineer on the go. It also means that it can be daisy chained, which then links to a power module that connects to a laptop via USB. However according to Palette’s co-founder, Calvin Chu, they are playing around with the idea that maybe future versions can pair with laptops either via WiFi or Bluetooth, making it a wireless setup.
The fact that it is modular also means that you can design the layout of your setup according to your needs. For example some hardware interfaces might not position buttons the way that you like it, which you can hardly fault the manufacturer since they do not know what every single person needs, but with Palette, no two setups are alike. As it stands Palette is a Kickstarter project seeking funding with a goal of $100,000.
At this time of writing, they have managed to raise a little over $80,000 with 31 days to go, so if you’d like to pledge or learn more, hit up its Kickstarter page for the details.
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