KickStarter project Palette introduces a truly hands-on software experience in the form of a tactile modular control surface.

As an electronic musician, MIDI control surfaces are a vital part of my day to day computing experience, they give me hands on control of all aspects of the production process without having to get by with the time-old mouse and keyboard combination.

Dedicated controllers have been a staple in music production for years now but they’re not really that common outside of the musical domain. So why hasn’t the idea of physical controllers been passed on to others in the creative world? It would seem that using a physical control surface would be a natural step forward for digital creatives of all walks of life, but it has never really caught on in the same way as the humble MIDI controller has.

Photographers, editors and digital artists are all among those that could benefit from the use of physical buttons and sliders while they work. Sure, there’s already dedicated touch screens and graphics tablets out there but they are usually only good for basic tasks and don’t actually give the user that much creative freedom.

This is where palette comes in. Palette is a beautiful and simple idea that plans to change the way you work for the better. It’s a set of modular controllers that easily snap together (just like LEGO) to create a personalised control surface that can be used with any software. The way that these little modules work is so simple that it makes you wonder why it hasn’t been made before.

The controllers can be programmed to communicate with your software of choice, this can be done very easily using the palette desktop app. This allows you to build a custom controller that will perfectly fit your needs. And because of its modular nature it can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be.

You can also add more modules as your needs change and evolve. At the moment there are only be 4 different modules available (power/USB, fader, rotary and button) but the masterminds behind palette are planning on realising brand new modules through a dedicated web store after the release.

This is possibly the coolest KickStarter protect that I’ve come across and it’s not surprising that it’s already met its target way before the deadline date on their page. I’m hoping to see great things from palette and I cant wait to see what new modules become available in the future.