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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Bring Back The Flasher
Posted by Steve




A flasher button may suggest something belonging to an exhibitionist, but it is one of the names given to buttons (i.e. political buttons) that use lenticular photographic layering to flicker (or flash) between two images. (Another term is "Flicker.")

Back in the day, a U.S. presidential campaign was not a campaign without a good supply of lentincular buttons; all parties used them. Sadly, with the rise of stick-on adhesive "buttons," they are no longer the mainstay they once were. The ones shown here, also known as Vari-Vue, produced by Pictorial Productions Inc, of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., who hold the Patent Number 2,815,310, are prized collectibles. This process was also used for countless advertising doodads and often found in boxes of Cracker Jack (when the prizes were good).

A student of mine recently had her business card done the lenticular way, and many 3D lenticular printing companies are accessible online. Here's one and its gallery of effects.









Election  | Photography
7/29/2008 7:53:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2]
7/29/2008 11:02:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
With all due respect to your student lenticular graphics belong in the category of Cracker Jack prizes or trade show junk giveaways (and I spent four years as the sole designer for trade shows for a large software company and I've done my fair share of junk trade show giveaway designs) but presented on a business card (other than for a company who makes Cracker Jack prizes or trade show junk giveaways) kind of comes across as...well...cheesy. This is just my opinion and we all know what they are worth but if a student looking for work presented me with a business card that morphed between two images I would be less than impressed.

My impression would be the cheap trick is being used to hide either a complete lack of the understanding of the business of design or a lack or deficiency of design skills. Your business card needs to stand out, show your design skills but also present a certain level of professionalism and not look like it came from a...Cracker Jack box.
7/31/2008 3:41:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
I think I may have one of those Goldwater flasher buttons from 1964, in a box of old political pins and badges. I definitely have a little metal "Click with Dick" thing from Richard Nixon's campaign. I'm not quite sure what to call the object: it's shaped like a big guitar pick, and you could press the center back and forth to make it click.
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