SPOTLIGHT ON: PAPERLESS POST
When I was contacted to review Paperless PostI was excited. I was aware of their concept, I’d always loved their designs and I was looking forward to trying it out. The whole concept of coins had always put me off before and I had never really needed to use their service so I mostly just looked at their designs as eye candy. And alas it seems it will stay that way.
The thing is, I’ve realized, Paperless Post is just not for me.
I am a stationary nut – I buy greeting cards wherever I go. I love them so much that I make my own. I am the kind of girl with a big box of cards for all different occasions - just in case. I get it from my Mum, you could go to her with the request for a Get Well Soon card for someone who just had their appendix out and she’d probably have it. I’m not that organized, but I am the kind of person who has multiple new baby card in both sexes (and one for twins) without knowing anyone who’s pregnant at the time. And all the cards are gorgeous.
And I can say that the designs on Paperless Post are varied, well designed and beautiful. There are collaborations with some of my favourite designers and illustrators. Rifle Paper Co., Kelly Wearstler, kate spade new york, to name but a few.
So you may ask, what is your problem? Well it is my problem, and it might just be specific to me, my problem is: I don’t really email. I started this post project with an idea in mind; I was going to get in touch with some old friends; friends that I had not contacted for a long time – people I used to work with, people I went to college with, people I went to school with. Problem was; I didn’t have any of their email addresses. I mostly communicated with people via text, via Whatsapp (which didn’t exist when I knew some of these friends but works with mobile numbers which I do have) and also Facebook (all you need to find people on there is a name). And so I was in a dilemma, my plan didn’t work to send a beautifully designed and spontaneous electronic card if I had to text the person first and ask for their email address – all the spontaneity out the window – and also a ‘why are you texting me out of the blue?’ conversation – it just didn’t work.
So to plan B – I was planning a dinner party – a very small one with around five friends – the dinner party invitations on Paperless Post are stunning, so I was looking forward to this plan. I had another problem – I only knew two of the guests email addresses – again I was foiled. The invitation looked beautiful though.
I then realized there was a new option on Paperless Post – a flyer. This one said it could shared via text, something you couldn’t do with cards. I also found problems with this. It wasn’t as easy to send as I thought. I honestly was not trying to find faults with this service but it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting that you’d be able to put a phone number in and it would text someone your flyer – as far as I could tell it didn’t work like that – you had to send yourself the share link and then you could put that in a text or Whatsapp message. It all seemed more complicated than just sending a message inviting people over in a Whatsapp group message. On the plus side though, it was super easy to design and it looked really good. I was also annoyed that it forced me to put in a destination. I just wanted to write ‘my house’ as everyone I was inviting knew where I lived – this was not an option, this was frustrating to me.
I think all these services would work great under the right circumstances. If you’re planning a work party and you’re inviting an institution that primary communicates over email, than these would be perfect. If you wanted to send out preliminary Save the Date emails to friends and family members and you could make sure you had an email address for everybody before you started, then this service is perfect and as I said they’d look professional and beautiful. If you always send a card to your Aunt in Australia but the postage costs are getting stupid, then this is great (and I might do this – I don’t know if you could tell but that example was one straight out of my real life) you can send a beautiful card without any of the high postage costs.
I have to say though one of the biggest flaws for me in this Paperless Post service is the paperless part. I know it’s an excellent way to save the environment and use less paper and I commend it for it’s environmental benefits, and I know most cards get thrown in the bin, but, I like paper. I love receiving birthday cards in the post. I hardly get any post – everything is sent through email – I don’t even get bills anymore. So to receive a hand written card in the post is a treat and come on environmentalists - it only happens a couple of times a year!
I’ll post below some of my favourtie designs – as I said Paperless Post cannot be faulted on their design – everything about the website is so stylish and it’s easy to navigate and looks great.
And if anyone has any stories about using the service themselves – good or bad – I’d love to know in the comments below!
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