Design exploration: Flash eCards

I don't recall seeing any postings on this blog about eCards -- those short animations you can send to family and friends on special occasions such as birthdays and Mothers Days -- which is odd because Flash animation on the internet really comes into play here. American Greetings lets you send a number of humorous Flash greeting sentiments, as does Hallmark. Jib Jab is another site that provides the service. Even MoveOn.org has a site to dispense such eCards!

JibJab and the MoveOn.org sites also allow you to put a mug of you or your loved one into the eCard sentiment. Such personalization is effective. The recipient can see his name and face splashed across a tongue-in-cheek faux news story and get an extra bang.

I was clued into this Design Exploration when I checked out the portfolios of a couple of Flash artists (Ben Lane and Chris Georgenes) and saw that they have done eCards in their job histories.

The more I think about it, that would be a great job -- to creatively cook up short Flash cartoons for greeting card companies (and like newspapers, card companies are scrambling to move with the tsunami of new technology).

But on to the serious business of analyzing these interactive multimedia concoctions. My analysis concludes with the observation that 'anything goes' with these eCards. Slapstick works. Dry English humor works. Political satire works. 3D clay puppets work. Barking dogs really works. And 3D clay puppets of dogs barking works best of all. (Is there such a thing as a clay puppet?)