Postcrossing Blog

In a partnership with Japan Post, Nestlé Kit Kat and advertising agency JWT have come up with a clever and innovative concept: the Kit Kat postcards!

As the name suggests, these are small boxes of Kit Kat, that can be mailed as if they were a postcard. The product launch was timed with the university exams season, so that friends and relatives could wish students good luck in their studies with a chocolate break :)

Here’s the product presentation:

The Kit Kat postcards won the Media Grand Prix this year at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, so we wonder… how long until it is available at other postal services around the world? *hint hint* :)

Have you been in a Postcrossing meetup before? How about an International Postcrossing meetup? If not, here’s your chance!

Like all Postcrossing meetups, this one is also organized by the users themselves and it’s been in the works for quite some time. Now that the details are pretty much decided, it’s time to spread the word. This International Postcrossing meetup is going to be in Helsinki (Finland) in the 28th, 29th and 30th of August.

If you are interested, here’s a summary of what’s currently planned:

Friday, 28th August:

A small pre-meeting in the afternoon for chat and coffee in a cafeteria.

Saturday, 29th August – the official meeting day

The official meeting day starts at 10am with a guided tour around city center and a trip to the Suomenlinna Island, an UNESCO World Heritage place. On the Island it’s possible to do a small picnic or have a cup of coffee. Of course, the city tour will have plenty of stops in many postcard shops!
Later in the day everyone can enjoy a meal together in a restaurant followed by plenty of time to write some more postcards.

Sunday, 30th August

A visit to the biggest flea market in Helsinki, Valtterin Kirpputori, and continue to the amusement park Linnanmäki which has an unique atmosphere. The last stop on Sunday will be the Olympic Stadium Tower in Helsinki.

Many users are already arranging to go, some from abroad with plans to visit the country for the first time!

To know more details about this meetup, just check the Postcrossing Forum where you can find more updated information about it.

On the last post, some of you wondered what kind of objects can be sent through mail. Well, here’s a cool project that tests the limits of postal services (and their patience too!): To Mr. Cheng.

Artist Eric Ericson, from Sweden, spent a few years sending all kinds of unwrapped objects through the mail: food, a skeleton, a baby doll, books, vinyl records, a pair of glasses, individual playing cards… you name it.

The result is a fascinating minimalist website and book (published in Sweden but we hope they make it available in Amazon soon!).

Here’s what the artist had to say on a recent interview with Wired magazine:

Wired.com: You have previously published books of letters, for example one where you sent letters with odd ideas to authorities, like asking a Swedish municipality if it could host a North American Indian tribe. Why are you so fascinated by letters?
Ericson: Sending things is a fun way to communicate, and I love the seriousness in letters. I mean, you would never receive a lawsuit by e-mail. There is something about letters, especially nowadays when they are getting more and more rare, and we’re communicating in other ways instead.

Once in a while, many of us love to receive some cheesy-looking and colorful postcards.

Our friends from Australia have made a fun and interesting set of new postcards called Bendy Friends. These postcards are not your regular postcards. They are colorful, thicker, shiny, and obviously bendy!

According to the Bendy Friends’ official website, these flexible postcards are made to be durable. You do not need to put them in an envelope nor worry too much about them being lost in the mail. They are extremely noticeable with their colorful designs. Moreover, Bendy Friends postcards are made from strong, flexible, and colorful foam.

You can choose your own Bendy Friends character from a wide variety of choices—from Disney’s most-loved cartoon characters to Australia’s adorable endemic animals.

The Bendy Friends can also end up on your recipient’s fridge. The makers attached a small magnet on the back of each Bendy Friends postcard for easy fridge attachment.

If you’d like to check out their whole inventory, simply visit their website.

You can also order your very own Bendy Friends postcards from the site. They ship everywhere! Just download the order form and either mail, fax, or email it to them.

Many people are saying that these postcards are made for children. Sure, why not? However, the Bendy Friends postcards cater to everyone who like durable, bendy, and colorful postcards—both children and the child-at-heart.

Some people love receiving postcards that show beautiful scenes or pleasant paintings while others prefer those that have some kind of personal touch. Not surprisingly, many people love getting postcards that are witty… that make them think… that tease their brain… and at the same time, make them laugh.

Introducing… Indexed Postcards by Jessica Hagy.

Thanks to fellow Postcrosser, Addis R. Perez (username: rainmelonpie) from Puerto Rico, who shared with us the info about Ms. Hagy’s unique set of postcards. Now many of you will know about these witty postcards and may love them, too.

Indexed postcards started as simple, weekday-morning blog entries back in 2006. On pieces of 3×5 index cards, Jessica Hagy would connect a number of words and phrases wittingly with charts and diagrams that look like those figures that you encountered in your high school geometry or algebra class.

Some of the cards comment about controversial topics such as immigration, religion, politics, and the media while most are based on real life experiences and observations of the author—all written in such a way that makes you realize how real the connections are!

Here are some of Jessica’s most famous and most controversial Indexed creations:

Zip it back up. There are secrets in there.


All mixed up

These Indexed cards and many more have been featured in various media outlets such as Time Magazine, GOOD Magazine, BBC Magazine Online, NY Times Freakonomics, PC Mag, Yahoo, and Guardian UK. You can check out more of Jessica’s work here: Indexed.

Good news for many Postcrossers who love or will love Jessica’s brilliant creations: Jessica Hagy has teamed up with Chronicle Books and published an Indexed Postcard Book. Just follow this link to check it out: Indexed Book on Amazon.com, .ca, .co.uk, or .de.

What do you think of them? Do share!