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Animated Business Cards

Submitted by: Bjoern
Created: Sep 19, 2007, 4:03 am

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The Idea

There is a kind of paper that can display simple animations, because it shows a different picture depending on the angle from which you look at it. It is done with a thin layer of plastic lenses applied on top of the paper, and it is commonly used for children toys and postcards.

I thought it would be nice to make a business card like that, with a small animation on it. (As the business, offer to make such cards, or other animated papers).

I checked once, but I couldn't find a source for the plastic lenses easily. With more dedication, it should be doable, though.

Problem: are business cards still relevant?

Please tell me what you think about this idea.

I thought of this idea when I was...

There was an article in a computer magazine (c't, from Germany) that described how to create such animations yourself, using a standard scanner to scan in 3d objects.

Comments Posted

vanhees Posted: September 19, 2007, 5:46 am

http://www.cuttinged...3D-businesscards.htm
http://www.snap3d.com/businesscards.php
Tommy

cRitter Posted: September 19, 2007, 9:52 am

Is $175 for 300 business cards a good deal? Blame the designer in me, but I'd rather have a killer concept before I forked out that much money for kitschy card.

ccozad Posted: September 19, 2007, 1:23 pm

I take it you are referring to a hologram on a business card? I am not sure how much it would be worth it to try to pursue something like this.

I imagine the cost per card would be high and people who would buy them probably already have PDAs and smart phones that they can exchange data on.

Plus any kind of printing is usually a tough market to break into. Equipment costs are high and margins are low.

Now if you can get a business card to play a video you might be onto something :)

cRitter Posted: September 19, 2007, 9:36 pm

I would love to get my hands on a Zelda business card!

Bjoern Posted: September 19, 2007, 11:43 pm

Thanks for the comments! It seems it has already been done, well, at least I am glad somebody managed to create a business out of it, so it was not an all stupid idea. @ccozad: no I wasn't talking about holograms, but about this lenticular technology (I am still not sure what it was called).

I guess what is left to do would be to post an instructable to instructables.com for creating such cards at home.

saigon Posted: September 23, 2007, 10:09 am

I have seen 3d..while the animated are in e-cards websites... if this is being done you can check how is it going and how much you can improved.

mcgee Posted: September 25, 2007, 4:15 pm

Bjoern,

Holograph cards are so 80s:)
You can try e-ink/e-paper cards instead.

I have no idea how much they cost, but they could do animation, or display anything you want. You could fit much more information on such a card. Maps, phones, low-res pictures, etc

I remember in ~2000 when I kept getting business cards that were miniature CDs. People pay for gimmicky stuff, so I'm sure animated business cards would work well.

ccozad Posted: September 25, 2007, 4:38 pm

Bjoern commented on the hollogram thought above. I had mistakenly assumed he was talking about holograms. As mentioned above, it is something different than a hollogram.

It may very well be some kind of e-paper.

Bjoern Posted: September 26, 2007, 1:42 am

It is actually more primitive than a hologram. Anyway, e-ink of course would be cool, once the technology is ready, somebody will have to be the first to step into that market. I suppose at the moment it would be too expensive.

Perhaps a cheaper kind of e-ink could be used to print business cards on the fly, though (like the magnetic drawing boards for children).

wes Posted: October 24, 2007, 7:39 pm

I like the concept. Might not be a big seller for the little guys. As for the moneymakers that live off thier image or reputation it would probably do well. Realtors, concept businesses ( Orange County Choppers, Boyd Coddington-American Hot Rod, ETC.), or even novelty stores. I think you have a money maker.

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