148apps 2013 Holiday Shopping Guide for Creative Types

Three days in and, if you'll forgive the reference, "it doesn't show signs of stopping." Welcome once again to another one of our holiday shopping guides! Even the most battle-hardened gift giver can be plagued by indecision. Thankfully there are people like us putting together handy-dandy holiday shopping guides for you! Whether you’re looking for new hardware and accessories, or just something a bit less impersonal than an iTunes gift card, we’ve got you covered.

Other 148Apps Holiday Gift Guides: for [Heath Nuts] [Socializers] [Gamers] [Power Users]

Today’s guide is for those creative types in your life. These are the people who like to draw, compose music, sculpt, or otherwise make things with their iOS devices. So long as they enjoy creating, and you’re in need of some gift ideas, you should check out our list below.

OlloClip Quick-Flip Case

The Olloclip 4-in-1 Lenses ($69 - iPhone) are about the best recommendation we can make for the creative types in your life. This collection of interchangeable lenses - 2 macro, a fisheye, and a wideview - clips right on to the iPhone, and are a great way to enhance one's photography without the need for any retouching. The only real issue with the Olloclip lenses is that they can't clip on to an iPhone unless the case is removed. The Olloclip Quick-Flip Case ($49 - iPhone) is the perfect answer to this problem. The corner can unclip and swing away to make room for the lens attachments without the need to remove the case entirely - and as an added bonus it comes with a tripod adapter. [Our Olloclip 4-in-1 Lenses Review] [Our Olloclip Quick-Flip Case Review]

While the Olloclip lenses are great, there's no shame in getting a little digital help for those photos and videos. Pro Camera 7 ($1.99 - iPhone) is a very handy app for taking great photos and videos. TimeShiftGen2 ($0.99 - iPhone) with its real-time filter previews and easy-to-use interface would make for another handy inclusion.

SanDisk Wireless Media Drives

These wireless SanDisk Drives ($50 to $100 - iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch) are also a worthwhile consideration for most artistic types. Whether they like to snap lots of photos, mess around with amateur (or even professional) video, or illustrate, they're a fantastic option for storing a massive body of work without eating up an iOS device's storage space. They can be particularly useful for when users are on-the-go or otherwise away from their computer for extended periods of time. [Our Review]

Pretty much any apps that allow users to store their created content would be a great fit with these SanDisk drives. AppCooker ($9.99 - iPad) allows would-be developers to create rough app prototypes, so having an external backup for all of those files and assets is a good idea. Music creation apps along the lines of Session Band - Piano Edition ($5.99 - Universal) aren't a bad idea either. I mean those remixed tracks need to be saved somewhere, right?

Intuos Creative Stylus

The Intuos Creative Stylus ($99 - iPad) and drawing go together like two things that go really, really well together. Wacom knows tablets, and by extension they know styli. The Intuos feels great, works great, comes with an assortment of attachment tips, and the compatible apps (listed on the official site) offer palm rejection and pressure sensitivity. [Our Review]

iRig HD

For the more musically inclined, consider the iRig HD ($99 - iPad/iPhone). The device can connect a guitar to any iOS device and plays the sound directly through the iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. Producing songs or simply screwing around with a guitar and converting the resulting tunes into a digital format doesn't get much easier than this, and Amplitube for iPad (iPad - $9.99) is the most significant companion app to consider along with it - since it's actually developed specifically to work with the iRig HD and allows users to do all their recording and editing directly on their device. [Our Review]

Castiv Guitar Sidekick

The Castiv Guitar Sidekick ($29 - iPhone/iPod Touch), on the other hand, is a surprisingly simple contraption that's equally as clever. This little clip attaches to the neck of a guitar and allows the user to clip their iPhone or iPod Touch to the other end - an ideal spot for reading tablature, recording tunes, tuning, and more. [Our Review]

Why not add The Backing Track App ($0.99 - Universal) to the Sidekick while you're at it? This useful little app adds a background track for the guitar player to mess around with. The tempo can be adjusted and the tracks will loop until the users decides to turn them off. It makes practicing improvised tunes a snap, and is a lot more portable than a computer or radio.

Feel free to peruse our Editor’s Choice selections for more top-rated creativity app ideas.