Bay Area creator hopes to make people smile, one postcard at a time

Bay Area creator hopes to make people smile, one postcard at a time

Lifelong creator Archie Perleberg?loves to make people smile through postcards, but his postcards are more than meets the eye.

TAMPA - Lifelong creator Archie Perleberg loves to make people smile through postcards, but his postcards are more than meets the eye. 

The backstory:

"Two worlds are coming together," Perleberg said. 

The first world features fun, printed postcards, stickers and magnets. They highlight Tampa Bay, and many feature Florida staples like manatees and turtles. 

"The old world is meeting the future, and then it comes to life," Perleberg said.

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The second world comes via a QR code and a smartphone. Putting a phone camera over a card makes the images come to life, both with movements and sounds. Perleberg calls it a "living card". 

"You have this digital content as a surprise," Perleberg said. 

Dig deeper:

The cards and their content are created using augmented reality. Perleberg's company, AR Design Group, sells their products all over the Bay Area, including Sunken Gardens, The Merchant in St. Petersburg, the Dunedin History Museum, Artist Haven AMI in Holmes Beach and Hazel + Dot in South Tampa. One of the first stores to carry the products is Visit Tampa Bay's Welcome Center. 

"They can really see the destination before they come or remember it when they leave," Visit Tampa Bay Retail & Project Manager Wesley Balch said. "It's a great token of memorabilia of our wonderful city, and it's cool, if you are local, to see your city through a postcard."

Cards and stickers feature animals coming off the screen and highlight local landmarks like Tampa International Airport's flamingo and the roller coasters of Busch Gardens. 

"My purpose in life is to create joy and fun moments and moments that are surprising, to create excitement, bring the joy and the fun," Perleberg said.