Brian Mueller is something of a Renaissance man. He single-handedly codes, designs, illustrates, and writes all of the dialogue for his wisecracking Carrot apps, which fall into categories that typically don’t have a lot of personality: to-do lists, alarm clocks, calorie counters.
To call his style droll would be an understatement. Carrot Weather (available on macOS and iOS) takes liberties with its forecasts. “It’s a beautiful day! Ha ha, just kidding. It’s raining.” The iOS exercise app Carrot Fit implores you to “jump flabby human, jump for freedom!” in a deadpan robotic voice. Carrot To-Do for iOS is equally sardonic: “It’s been 18 hours since you did anything useful.”
A smack-talking weather app might not seem like the big idea that would let you quit your day job. In fact, Carrot’s success surprised even Mueller. “For some reason, people have responded to this. I still can’t believe sometimes any of this caught on,” he says.
Working out of a spare room in his Philadelphia-area home, the former aspiring screenwriter has penned thousands of lines of dialogue for his apps, which he constantly updates to nod to current events. (A recent one-liner from Carrot Weather: “Oil has gotten so cheap that I can’t even give barrels of it away with a Premium Club subscription.”)
As for the inspiration for Carrot, Mueller credits those closest to him: his mom, sister, and wife—all of whom tease one another relentlessly.
“A lot of the dialogue for Carrot is drawn out of stuff that we’ve actually said to each other,” he says. “Every time my wife says something funny, I write it down for the apps. Sometimes she gets annoyed by that, but she’s a lot funnier than I am.”
When Mueller dreamed up the idea to create a character-driven app, he had zero coding experience. “I’m an English major with a creative-writing minor. I love to write and create characters and tell stories, but I had no real idea of what I would do with my life.”
Mueller’s first instinct was to hire a developer to realize his vision. “I didn’t want to sound like a jerk when talking to a programmer, so I bought a book on iOS programming for beginners, just to know what terms to use,” he says. As he read iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide, Mueller was surprised by how easy it is to make an app. By January 2013, Carrot To-Do had launched on the App Store. It took him about a month to create.
I love to write and create characters and tell stories, but I had no real idea of what I would do with my life.
Initially, sales were tepid. It took a couple of years, and a few more apps, before Carrot found a broad-enough audience for Mueller to quit his day job and become a full-time developer.
Although being a one-man app shop isn’t easy, Mueller enjoys wearing all the hats. “When I hit a road block with coding, I can take a break and switch to writing or doing some design work,” he says. “I’m not stuck doing the same thing over and over.”
“It’s a weird way to work, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist and it allows me to make exactly what I want.”