Ecards!!...oh yesh, finally

Oh how I love launching a lesson that I KNOW people want. This has to be my most requested lesson, and now I can finally reply, "You'sa want Ecards?, We gotcha Ecards right here's..." Anyway. So yes, this lesson is finally out. And the best part is probably the customizable features. You can set up drag n' drop objects in the movie, like a dress-up doll type thing, and then generate the card, and have your friends see whatever craziness you put together. The example project for the lesson only uses 5 objects, but you can expand this to plenty more.

And don't forget, you do need access to a host with MySQL for this lesson. If you don't have that yet, I recommend 1and1's Business Plan or Developer plan. Click here and you should see both listed.

And when you're ready, the lesson awaits... CLICK HERE to check it out

Spokes Characters...

...That's the topic for this latest Flash illustration lesson. As always the drawing basics, and not-so-basics are covered, but the framework for teaching this tutorial is creating a useable advertising character for whatever you're involved in. I think this is a particularly good topic for CartoonSmart students since the majority of ya are freelance artists and even though your product "packaging" isn't as tangible as a cereal box, it does exist: your website. And there's only a few billion other websites out there to compete with for sales, or even just attention. So the little extras, like spokes characters, are something to seriously consider adding to your page headers, footers, or just interspersed in key place (like "hey, I'm talented at _______")

For those interested in a little ad character history, below is a list of well-known's (most dating back a few decades) and also a list of more recent characters that are anywhere from 1-20 years old. Also PUHLLEASE consider buying this book.... Meet Mr. Product ...its about 5 by 7 inches (so it fits perfectly within your normal desk litter) and it contains HUNDREDS of illustrations of ad characters dating back to the early 1900's. Obviously a major help for this topic, but its an excellent go-to book for design inspiration. Too many of you "tighten" up design wise, and a book like this helps you realize how loose you can get and still create something corporate-related. Anyway, here's those lists...


Well knowns...

Michelin Man
Michelin Man (current 3D version)
Pillsbury DoughBoy
The "Quaker Oats" Quaker
Tony the Tiger
Aunt Jemima
Quisp
Cap'n Crunch
Mr. Bubble
Chester Cheetah
Spuds MacKenzie
The Burger King
California Raisins
Coppertone Girl
The Noid
Energizer Bunny
Frito Bandito
Jolly Green Giant
Punchy
Colonel Sanders
Alfred E. Neuman
Ronald McDonald
Morris the Cat
Mr. Peanut
Smokey The Bear
Snuggle Bear
Charlie The Tuna
Mr. Zip
Woodsy Owl
NBC peacock
Peanuts Characters (for Met Life)
Big Boy
Chuck E Cheese


Modern examples...

the SongBird bird
Luxo Jr.
Tux ( Linux )
Puffy (OpenBSD)
AOL guy
Sirius Dog
M&M guys
Bart Simpsons for Butterfinger
Aflac Duck
Looney Tunes (for Six Flags Parks)
Taco Bell Chihuahua
Erin Esurancel
Mozilla godzilla
Geico Gecko
Pets.com Sock Puppet
Clippit
Konqi Konqueror


More examples...

Mascots
Video Game Mascots
Advertising Characters