GMX · WEB.DE · mail.com · Character Design · Animation
Animated eCards for GMX, WEB.DE & mail.com
A large series of original animated greetings created for 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE and used across GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com — combining cartoon characters, illustration, visual gags and short-form animation for everyday digital communication.
Small messages, fully illustrated
The brief was deceptively simple: turn familiar messages such as thank you, sorry, happy birthday, get well soon, invitations and seasonal greetings into short animated experiences.
Instead of relying on generic graphics, each greeting was developed as its own miniature visual story. Some used a single comic reveal. Others depended on character acting, anticipation, timing or a small transformation.
The result was a broad collection of animated eCards with a consistent illustrated sensibility but enough variety in characters, situations and humor to suit very different messages.
Animation Reel
A selection from the animated eCard series
Concept · Drawing · Motion
Character design and animation as one process
Every card began with the message itself. A birthday needs a different rhythm from an apology. “Get well soon” needs warmth without becoming gloomy. An invitation has to create anticipation. A thank-you message can be affectionate, funny or understated.
From there I developed the visual idea and characters, planned the action and produced the finished animated piece.
- Concept development for individual message types
- Character design — people, animals and comic personalities
- Storyboarding and visual gag construction
- Illustration of characters, props and environments
- 2D animation and short looped sequences
- Timing of reveals, reactions and character movement
- Digital delivery for use across web and email platforms
Characters built around the message
The GIFs below are short previews from the larger animation collection.
Invitation — the Butler
A formal invitation becomes a miniature reveal as a butler lifts the silver cloche.
Sorry — the guilty dog
An empty cookie jar and one extremely suspicious dog do most of the explaining.
Danke — the gingerbread bear
A simple thank-you message carried by a bear and a traditional gingerbread heart.
New Year — fireworks
Champagne, fireworks and a straightforward celebratory beat for New Year.
Christmas — the giant bone
A boy gives his dog the sort of Christmas present every cartoon dog deserves.
Thank you — birds in a nest
Two birds, one hug and a very compact animated thank-you.
Birthday — surprise hatch
A spotted egg supplies the setup; the birthday bird supplies the punchline.
Get well soon — thermometer bird
A recovery message built around a worried patient and a bird with questionable medical credentials.
Sorry — cat with broken vase
The classic innocent-cat expression, somewhat undermined by the evidence lying beside it.
Gute Besserung — the skydiver
A rather more energetic interpretation of “get well soon.”
Illustration made for digital platforms
The eCards were created for established consumer email services, which meant the drawings and animation needed to communicate quickly in a digital environment.
A viewer might only give the animation a few seconds, so character, action and message had to be immediately understandable. That constraint encouraged simple staging, clear silhouettes and concise visual storytelling.
It is the same basic discipline found in cartoons, comics and short animation: establish the situation quickly, direct attention to the important detail and make the final beat land at exactly the right moment.
Where cartooning, character design and motion meet
This project sits naturally between several parts of my work. The humor comes from cartooning. The personality comes from character design. The clarity comes from illustration and composition. Animation adds timing and performance.
None of those disciplines operates independently. A character’s shape affects how it moves. The movement changes the timing of the joke. The message determines how elaborate or restrained the sequence should be.
That is what made the series enjoyable to develop: each tiny greeting was effectively a very short piece of visual storytelling.
Project details
- Client: 1&1 Mail & Media Applications SE
- Platforms: GMX, WEB.DE and mail.com
- Project: animated digital greeting / eCard collection
- Role: concept development, character design, illustration, storyboarding and animation
- Formats: birthdays, invitations, apologies, thank-you messages, get-well greetings and seasonal communication
- Use: digital communication across web and email services
More from the animated collection
A broader selection of the animations can be viewed in the YouTube gallery below.
Related work
See more character & mascot design, commissioned illustration & campaign visuals, hand-drawn animation & explainer videos and selected case studies.
Need a character-led animated message?
If you have a short animation, illustrated campaign or character-driven communication project in mind, send me a brief outline of the message, audience and intended use.
