Let’s Hear it for the Return of True Greetings
Send Handwritten Cards as Quick as Texting
It was my birthday. And the “Happy Birthday” texts and Facebook messages inundated my life. I got 107 phone buzzes and I knew exactly what they all said:
It seems like it became a game of points… My co-workers would ask me, “How many did you get?” I’d say the number, but wonder — DO 107 POSTS VALIDATE MY WORTH? There was one handwritten birthday card I found in my mailbox among the bills and flyers. It was from a good friend. I still keep it on my desk even a year later.
Getting a handwritten card in the mail simply rocks. There’s the feel of the paper, the artwork, the penmanship. And it reflects effort somebody put into preparing it and getting it delivered to you. With a quick search online you’ll see numerous posts urging to preserve handwriting, striving for more real connections in the digital world.
This made me want to get on the bandwagon and also deliver that personal touch to my pals. My friends would be excited to get actual mail from me.
Sending a handwritten card does take time. Actually a lot of time. You have to go to the store and hope to find something cool there. Possibly go to another. Find postage. Go home and find a pen. Sit down and write. And put the card into the postbox. In reality we rarely have time to do that.
I asked myself how I could make handwritten cards both relevant and cool for my pace of life and for my busy friends who are used to gifs and emojis. What could be a combination of smartphone ease and this more personal form of communication that would simply work? How could I get that real connection back to my life?
To answer these questions I created an app called Punkpost. Best of both worlds? You betcha. Think snarky Christmas cards with confetti bombs, as well as old-fashion thank you notes that can be sent in a minute right from your phone. So while you are in line for a coffee or during a boring conference call you can drop a “You, foxy freak of nature” card to your significant other. Good friends, business partners, love interests and family do deserve more than a text, right?
The first card is free. You’ll need to add a few account details initially, but after that your next cards will be as quick as sending a text. Did I mention you can also add photos or confetti?
1. Firstly, you’ll need the app. Download it right on your iPhone from the App Store (search for Punkpost) or… oh hai… here’s the direct link.
2. Create your account in the app by adding your email address and a password (a one-time procedure for the first card!).
3. Add your own address. It will automatically be added as the return address on all of your orders (another step you won’t need to repeat later on).
4. Add your contacts. Importing contacts from your phone is easy.
5. Choose your card. We work with really hip designers to have lots for you to choose from: Go bananas and pick a real talk design, like “You da bomb”, praise your “Rad Dad” or keep it classy with “Just a note” to thank a friend for a dinner party.
6. Compose your message. Add your recipient’s address and type a message to that special someone. Once you’ve added an address, it will stay in the app, so the next time you send that person a card, it will be that much faster… and soon you’ll have a huge address book for your pals.
7. Add a confetti bomb and/or a fun picture. For $1.50 extra, you can add a pint-sized party to the card or a turn your insta-snaps into actual photo prints. Just click on the sparkly icon at the bottom of the message or a photo button next to it. Your first card is always free… including the confetti bomb and picture.
8. Add a credit card to make easy payment for future posts. Like we said, your first card is always free, so no need to add bank deets then. After that, your posts are $7. That includes postage (+$1.50 for international posts). Basically, it’s the price you would pay for a card at the store.
9. Check posts to see what’s been scheduled. In your app’s “Outbox” section, you’ll see all the posts you send and receive, as well as an estimated delivery date for the scheduled ones.
10. Check your photo report. You can click on any sent post to see the photos of the card and envelope that have been prepared on your behalf. By the way, we tailor your post as much as possible. For instance, we will make sure a male or female artist writes your card depending on your gender, We draw emojis, and stamps are picked to fit the message. And because we’re actual humans preparing your post, feel free to add a special request in parentheses, and we’ll try our hardest to make it awesome.
In summary, I hope that more of your friends and people you love will get personal (read non-digital) greetings. There’s almost no excuse not to send one now. It’s THAT easy. So have some fun with it! We’ll work hard on making Punkpost even more fun and adding more useful features. By the way, we recently bought ourselves a Golding Pearl printing press and already started using it for printing the holiday cards. So you see, we’re kind of obsessed about the craft.
Screw instant. Let’s bring back the real connection.
Check out these card collections:
- Hello Card Collection
- Friendship Card Collection
- Congratulations Card Collection
- Birthday Card Collection
Artist profiles you’ve got to see:
Other stories from Punkpost:
