 |
|
click image for actual ecard
Artist: Crash Romeo
Release: Gave Me The Clap
Label: Trustkill
Designer: ???
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Not as good as a lot of ecards I’ve seen. The intro is a little bland, and there’s a little clutter and unreadability of the text on the main page, if you can manage to not be distracted by the tiled background.
It sounds like I really don’t like this, but I don’t mind it. Its main attribute is its unobtrusiveness, whatever that means.
click image for actual ecard
Artist: Once Nothing
Release: First Came The Law
Label: Solid State
Designer: Online Revolution Design
Release Date: January 15, 2008
Nice gritty and film-grainy intro to this “blue collar metal” band from Steel City. I feel like I’m watching film rather than a .swf file. The actual ecard is a lot plainer but it gets the job done well.
click image for site (hint: the answer is b…shh…)
Artist: P.O.D.
Release: When Angels & Serpents Dance
Label: INO/Columbia
Designer: Invisible Creature
Release Date: sometime, 2008
As we reported a week ago, P.O.D.’s new album art is finally revealed. Clean with lots of white space and moderately compelling imagery that hints at a narrative that is hopefully developed in the other panels. I like it, but I’m reserving my full opinion until after the release when I can actually judge with the hands and eyes in tandem.
Still, I can’t shake the memory-jog of a certain episode of a certain animated quarter-hour show.
Also of related note is the ecard for bassist Traa’s new book about the music business. He moves and it’s a little weird!
click image for ecard
Artist: Relient K
Release: Let It Snow, Baby… Let It Reindeer
Label: Gotee/Capitol
Designer: ???
Release Date: October 23, 2007
This had some potential, but all you get to do is pick a photo and type a message for someone and… that’s it. Doesn’t Gotee have a bigger budget?
click image for larger version
click image for ecard
Artist: Anberlin
Release: Lost Songs
Label: Tooth & Nail
Designers: Invisible Creature (album), Online Revolution Design (ecard)
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Simple design that adds nicely to the album title. The ecard, thankfully, doesn’t complicate it up and instead maintains the minimalism.
click image for ecard
Artist: Bebo Norman
Release: Christmas… From the Realm of Glory
Label: BEC/EMD
Designer: Matchstic
Release Date: October 2, 2007
I’m a sucker for humorous interactive Flash movies, and it’s even better when it includes Christmas. In this one you can outfit the artist (putting ridiculous amounts of ornament bulbs on the guy are always fun), and send the ecard to a friend, featuring a song from the release. Simple and intuitive. I’ve never heard of Matchstic before, but they do some good work.
click image for ecard
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Release: Mothership
Label: Rhino
Designer: ???
Release Date: November 13, 2007
This isn’t all that bad, but it’s not all that outstanding. It just seem to be there in a merely functional capacity: just a video and some relevant links. There’s little exchange between user and site, or any kind of play off the album art, which has great potential for some Flash-based interactivity.
click image for larger version
click image for ecard
Artist: The Glorious Unseen
Release: Tonight the Stars Speak
Label: BEC Recordings
Designers: Jordan Butcher (CD design), Rachel Briggs (photography)
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Double feature time! I assume the ecard was done by Online Revolution Design, but they are not credited anywhere on the card or on their site. Both designs are simple and embody the album’s title nicely, and the ecard’s intro and interface are uncomplicated with the fairly intuitive star rollovers.
