MeebleMail Provides Personalized Stationery Designs For Emails
- By Lloyd Trufelman
- Published 06/27/2011
- Unrated
Email has, for the most part, eliminated the use of the Post Office for everyday communication. We have traded personal, unique letters for quick and easy (and somewhat bland) messaging. A new NY-based startup, MeebleMail, is seeking to fill this void by offering a wide array of personalized email stationery, helping users add a little "me" to their emails.
Founded by Sharon and Edmund Gaffney in 2010, MeebleMail features unique designs, as well as many from well-known fashion, home and paper stationary brands, including Kara Ross (fashion), Celerie Kemble (home) and Jack and Lulu (stationery).
NY Convergence recently had the opportunity to sample MeebleMails offerings, and we came away with somewhat mixed feelings.
As a whole, MeebleMails website is simple and easy to navigate, clearly laying out the steps for selecting, personalizing, purchasing and employing the stationery to your emails. MeebleMail charges $4.99 per design for unlimited usage for one year, donating 50 percent of the purchase price to a non-profit organization, including The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society.
While the number of designs can seem daunting, there are many categories and colors in which to narrow your search. However, it is hard to identify what exactly you will get in the categories, with broad labels ranging from "Whimsical" to "Layout."
After settling on a design, the user is prompted to input his or her name, monogram, address and an addit
ional image on to the design. There are multiple fonts in which to chose, but the color of the writing is constricted based upon the design, a feature which does slightly limit the users freedom in personalization. In addition, MeebleMail does not allow users to upload their own images, such as a company logo, on to the stationery, which is, again, limiting.
Once purchased, MeebleMail prompts the user to drag a link to the "stationery selector" to his or her bookmarks toolbar. The user can then open a new, blank email, click on the "stationery selector" to input the design on to the email, add text to the body and send. We found it problematic that MeebleMail currently works on Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail platforms, with Microsoft Outlook "coming soon." This is extremely limiting, as a major part of online communication, particularly in the business world, happens through Outlook.
This, in turn, is our main concern, that MeebleMail does not seem practical for business use. While there are many designs to choose from, MeebleMail lacks more professional stationery that would be desirable for corporate correspondence. It is a cute tool to include on personal emails, especially online event invitations, but does not seem to have much use beyond that.
Overall, we were satisfied with MeebleMails services, but think more developments to its functionality and designs are necessary before it will really gain traction and popularity.
MeebleMail
[Editors Note: NY Convergence received a $10 gift certificate from MeebleMail, a credit that was used up while in the process of reviewing the site]
Founded by Sharon and Edmund Gaffney in 2010, MeebleMail features unique designs, as well as many from well-known fashion, home and paper stationary brands, including Kara Ross (fashion), Celerie Kemble (home) and Jack and Lulu (stationery).
NY Convergence recently had the opportunity to sample MeebleMails offerings, and we came away with somewhat mixed feelings.
As a whole, MeebleMails website is simple and easy to navigate, clearly laying out the steps for selecting, personalizing, purchasing and employing the stationery to your emails. MeebleMail charges $4.99 per design for unlimited usage for one year, donating 50 percent of the purchase price to a non-profit organization, including The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society.
While the number of designs can seem daunting, there are many categories and colors in which to narrow your search. However, it is hard to identify what exactly you will get in the categories, with broad labels ranging from "Whimsical" to "Layout."
After settling on a design, the user is prompted to input his or her name, monogram, address and an addit
Once purchased, MeebleMail prompts the user to drag a link to the "stationery selector" to his or her bookmarks toolbar. The user can then open a new, blank email, click on the "stationery selector" to input the design on to the email, add text to the body and send. We found it problematic that MeebleMail currently works on Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail platforms, with Microsoft Outlook "coming soon." This is extremely limiting, as a major part of online communication, particularly in the business world, happens through Outlook.
This, in turn, is our main concern, that MeebleMail does not seem practical for business use. While there are many designs to choose from, MeebleMail lacks more professional stationery that would be desirable for corporate correspondence. It is a cute tool to include on personal emails, especially online event invitations, but does not seem to have much use beyond that.
Overall, we were satisfied with MeebleMails services, but think more developments to its functionality and designs are necessary before it will really gain traction and popularity.
MeebleMail
[Editors Note: NY Convergence received a $10 gift certificate from MeebleMail, a credit that was used up while in the process of reviewing the site]
Lloyd Trufelman
Lloyd Trufelman is publisher of NY Convergence. http://nyconvergence.com/nyconvergence-contributors
View all articles by Lloyd Trufelman