The app that paints the light fantastic

It's a modern take on the blurred photos children create by waving sparklers in front of the lens on bonfire night.

A London design team has released the first "light painting" iPhone app after a video of its work became an internet sensation. It allows consumers to easily create abstract pictures using light, simply by moving their iPhone in front of a camera. Hundreds of images have already been posted online, and its creators say it could become an entirely new art form.

The images are made using a camera with a long exposure, and an iPhone or iPad running the 59p app, called Penki. As the phone moves, the phone's display flashes light patterns, which gradually spell out words or other images.

The app was developed by Shoreditch design firm Berg, which was commissioned by communications agency Dentsu London. "We wanted to work with some of the people we admire most in London, so we asked the team at Berg to look at creating future magic'," says Beeker Northam of Dentsu.
The Berg team developed the light painting idea, and created a video that showed it off. "We gave them a really open brief, and what they came up with was amazing."

The video was put online, and became an instant hit.

"Berg came up with this awesome technique and made a great film. Then it seemed kind of obvious to release an app so people could create the effect themselves. We don't really know what people will do with it — and that's what makes it exciting. This could be a new artform. People have been uploading their pictures and it's really exciting to see what they come up with," says Northam.

The team plans to release a coffee-table book of the best images, and are even selling the original film's soundtrack on iTunes.

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