Everybody Say: Moo! (Moo MiniCards, That Is.)

One of the recurring topics of conversation during my talk at the PRC Monday evening was promotional materials. I recommended that everyone put together a book, which is discussion in and of itself. (Briefly: Several jb artists just did books with Blurb and are pleased as punch.)

I also recommended that people order MooCards customized with photos from their Flickr streams. It's simple and easy and the cards are so freaking cute and fun. I'm late to the game recommending these, but judging from the response of the audience on Monday evening, it's worth mentioning.

I happened to have a handful that I'd made for Hey, Hot Shot! tucked away in my handbag. The crowd went wild! Everyone wanted a MooCard, but alas, the supply I had diminished quickly. It's worth noting that stacks of postcards on the desk outside the auditorium remained. I brought more of those, but postcards can seem pedestrian in the presence of the cute, sturdy compactness of the MooCards.

Ordering MinCards is well integrated with Flickr. There's also a lot of flexibility in terms of which photos you choose and how you crop them. I threw caution to the wind: I selected 100 images from previous rounds of Hey, Hot Shot! and let the Moo gadget decide how to crop them. It was easier and it was fun to see how the crops turn out - since they are long and skinny you really just get a small portion of the frame on the card itself.

I ordered them a while ago, so my memory's a bit fuzzy, but here are the few quibbles I had with them:

- The photo quality wasn't great. This could've been because of the original resolution of the images I uploaded, but I'm not entirely sure.

- The personalization on the back is a bit limited. They kinda of make it seem like you have to have some kind of logo on there. (You don't but the "none" choice is lumped in amongst a bunch of icons.)

- I know that this isn't an issue for the average user, but there's no bulk ordering or discount. The total order cost, including shipping, is $24.95 for 100 cards. Spending $25 here and there for a set is cool, but it adds up quick. A corollary: I use a gang run house to print postcards for the gallery. Those are $325 delivered and I get 5000 cards. (Which is way too many, but that's a problem to be solved some other day.) For me to integrate Moo's MiniCards into my gallery's marketing plan in any kind of significant way, which is something I'd like to do, no bulk buying option is a dealbreaker.

All this Moo talk has got me itching to make more since the Bostonians cleaned out my stash. Maybe some things will have been fine tuned for this second round... it wouldn't be surprising: they're very customer oriented, super web 2.0ish and seem to place a premium on user experience. So, go forth and Moo!

Comments

[Davin]

I've had pretty good luck in terms of print quality with the Moo cards – just making sure to use full-res uploads from flickr. Most of my flickr uploads are the equivalent of 4"x6" 300dpi scans.

One minor thing I saw was that the online crop choice was not always reproduced as chosen so you can't be too precious with those choices.

I've also wondered about the repeat cost and whether there is a comparable local digital printing option but then they are unlikely to print directly from flickr so the time savings in dealing with a printer to produce something similar might make the difference.

[Ms. Jen]

I am shooting my flickr photos on a camera phone (Nokia N80) and I have been quite pleased with my photo quality.

My favorite part of the Moo cards is that you can get 100 different photos for $25. Yes, I can order a large run of postcards at a cheap price, but they are all the same artwork. Then there is size... I love the fact that I can stuff 40-50 of them in a small Altoids tin in my handbag and people want them.

[tim atherton]

has anyone tried BW on these things? do you get a good neutral, or does it come out all blue/cool or magenta?

or are you better off adding a tone to the images first

[Jen Bekman]

Ms. Jen makes a good point... and the Altoids tins are the perfect carrying case. I don't see them as ever replacing my business cards or my postcards, they're a great compliment. I just wish that there was some kind of discount available if you ordered 500 or 1000 at once.

Tim - there were a few b+w cards in my set, by Alison Grippo, and they came out SO well. They were nice and crispy and striking. She's printed with them several times her own self, I imagine she'll be along to put her two cents in soon.

[Alison]

I have done black and white on them and have been really happy. rich blacks, bright whites, i sounds like a laundry commercial. i'm a huge moo fan.