Cage: online collaboration made easy

BitConfused? It's a great name for a company, and it's particularly apt because this Oklahoma City-based outfit are dedicated to taking the confusion out of the toe-curling process of getting feedback and approval from your clients. Their answer is an online app called Cage, which aims to provide a new way of collaborating with other creatives and clients.

To celebrate the official launch of Cage, BitConfused is offering Computer Arts readers a 20 per cent discount on all its pricing plans for the next 30 days. Simply click here and then on the Try it for free button at the top. When you choose your pricing plan enter computerarts into the discount/promo code box and the saving will be applied. Your first 14 days will be free, so you can make sure you like it before paying. After that prices start at $14/month for freelancers, and go up to $179/month for large agencies. The offer ends 9 September 2012.

Choosing the right creative workflow tool can be as confusing as working with client feedback such as 'use a different blue', 'are swans cool?', 'give it more pop' and that old favourite, 'make the logo bigger'. Competitors include Basecamp, ProWorkflow, Approval Manager, and many others. Not to mention those digital asset management packages out there. However Cage hopes to bring improved ease of use, along with a great look and feel.

And at first glance it is very visual. It looks a bit like a workflow solution combined with a social media environment, with users exchanging friendly notes in a manner similar to commenting on a Facebook status update, or photo upload. It all works within one online application - a creative director in Calgary can set tasks for a designer in Detroit, an illustrator in Inverness and a programmer in Prague. And, they can all be briefed without sending off separate emails.

Similarly clients can be brought into the process, posting their feedback and requesting amends on print jobs, website designs, mobile apps, 3D animation, motion graphics and more. They can even add notes to individual video frames. Previous versions of a project are archived in case you need to revert back to them, and all sorts of files are supported including a range of video formats as well as PSDs. Watch BitConfused's infommercial bellow and you'll get the idea...

From what we've seen so far, Cage is a tool that generates conversation about creative work - the kind you're more likely to get in a face-to-face meeting than via a fragmented string of emails to and from various stakeholders. It looks attractive, and might remind users a little bit of Facebook, which should help both clients and creatives feel at home using it.