Hipstamatic released the Shanghai HipstaPak over the weekend

Some good news from the Hipstamatic mothership in San Francisco. The Shanghai HipstaPak was released on Friday for the regular Hipstamatic First Friday. The new pak is $0.99 and is available as an in-app purchase in Hipstamatic 301.

The Shanghai HipstaPak contains the new Jing lens and Gongbi film. See our gallery below.

Here’s Hipstamatic’s description of the pak:

Being in the worlds biggest city can be a whirlwind of visual stimulation made of lights and bright colors. The Shanghai HipstaPak emulates the energy of this global center in a vivid watercolored image.

The new pak is inspired by the traditional Chinese art of gongbi.

According to Wikipedia,

The gongbi technique uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely and without independent or expressive variation. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects.

Jing Lens Add a textured kaleidoscope of color to any photo. The gentle strokes seem to be applied with the loose grip of an impressionist painter.

Gongbi Film Close your eyes after a time-lapse of traveling through Shanghai, and the resulting memory is what this film produces. Only dreams can be created in this fashion.

“Inspired by” is the key phrase here. I found the new pak to be closer to a cross between a berry-pop style lens and a natural brush frame with random colored overlays. Where gongbi tends to be very precise with its vibrant colors, the combined effect of this lens and film is more of a random watercolor wash. It’s more of a traditional art effect than a photographic one. It’s also certainly one of the more vibrant of the recent HipstaPaks.

I like the Jing lens as an alternative to the predominantly red and blue hues of a Berry Pop effect.

I was not enamored with the frame of the Gongbi Film and its subtle, barely perceptible botany. I found it to be pretty large and intrusive. Cool Tip: With the Gongbi Film in Hipstamatic Pro mode, try shaking your iPhone.

I like the Jing Lens and the variety of color it adds to an image. The new Gongbi Film is fun, but the frame itself it a bit too annoying for my style.

I know Hipstamatic have more pressing issues to work on at the moment with the new 300-series updates, but I’m glad to see that the Haus of Hipstamatic is sticking to its First Friday release schedule.

The basic Hipstamatic app is $1.99 in the App Store.