Magic Potion

Want to say Happy Father's Day with a card that features your dad's name spelled out in skywriting, in chrome along the fender of a classic car, or on the wings of a butterfly? Forget Photoshop and download PixyMe, an iPhone app that artistically melds your choice of text with photos to create whimsical personalized cards. Developed by Tukaiz Products, the app offers hundreds of images to choose from as well as the option to upload your own. Not into e-cards? Take advantage of PixyMe's analog option: The company will print your card, affix a stamp, and send it via snail mail.

Join us in counting down to the imminent launch of UCODO, a site that will soon allow users to view, customize, and (of course) buy a variety of products -- all in a 3D environment. An initiative of U.K.-based design company Digital Forming, UCODO is an acronym of "User Co-Designed Objects" and among the objects on offer will be sunglasses, jewelry, pens, and lamps, all of which users will be able to modify (stretch, twist, emboss, assemble) with the move of a mouse. How much to tweak an object's form, color, and material is all up to the user. Designs can be saved in an online library or purchased on the spot for prices not usually associated with rapid prototyping technology. (We hear they'll start at around $25.) Creations will ship within two weeks. Join UCODO's mailing list to get first crack at this innovative design on demand platform.

Many decades from now, when the rapid pace of technological change has rendered all of our circa 2010 digital files unreadable and our grandchildren chuckle when we try to explain floppy disks, we'll still have flipbooks. The original motion pictures meet the YouTube age thanks to FlipClips, a Los Angeles-based company that creates custom flipbooks from digital videos. Simply upload six to 30 seconds of video footage (up to 25 MB worth) and choose from an array of size and design options. In a week or so, you'll be mesmerized by the sturdy pages of your own flipbook. At just $8.99 each, they're memorable alternatives to conventional greeting cards, invitations, or even business cards. Recipients will flip for their analog charm.

If your Memorial Day festivities will involve youngsters, convince them to join you for a flash art session during which you both draw the same comic book or cartoon character. That's the idea behind "Five-Minute Marvels" (as in Marvel Comics), a site that encourages adults and kids to try their hand at illustration and then submit the resulting collaborative artwork for online publication. The concept—"One hero. One kid. One adult. Five minutes."—is that of self-proclaimed "Marvel Smartass" Tim Miner, a father of two young girls who began the drawing sessions as a creative alternative to bedtime stories. Why five minutes? According to Miner, it's "just enough to have fun, but not enough to beat yourself up about your drawing."

Pingg wants you. The online invitation site is planning to expand its popular Designer Series into a self-service platform and market for artists, designers, brands, and charities to upload their creative content, translate it into a collection of online invitations and announcements, and connect with Pingg users worldwide. The first step is an open call for design submissions. What's in it for you? A dedicated profile page to showcase your work and link back to your personal website. Meanwhile, stay tuned for DStudio, a soon-to-launch program that will allow artists and designers to upload and monetize their work through the power of Pingg.

Shaky stock market got you down? Feeling creatively blocked? Whipsawed by Grecian lawlessness and Icelandic volcanoes? Spend some quality time with the Motivator, a simple online application from Big Huge Labs that allows users to create customized motivational posters. Beginning with a Successories-style template, you select the orientation and colors, supply a photo, and craft up to three lines of "motivational text" that will appear underneath the title of your choosing. The resulting images can make for chuckleworthy alternatives to standard evites, office decor, and, for those in need of a bit of anti-procrastination motivation, Mother's Day cards.