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The 2010 card is a personalized “physical mashup” that combines maps, photos, and business information:

The front panel of the card is a laser-cut map of the streets around the recipient's address. Underneath is an interesting photograph that was taken around the same area. The envelope features a map of local businesses along with their Yelp ratings.

Berkeley (photo by Thomas Hawk):

Seattle (photo by Slightlynorth):

New York (photo by EJP Photo):

Technical notes:

• The map data was retrieved from OpenStreetMap and transformed into an SVG using a custom XSL stylesheet. To make this suitable for use with a laser cutter, the SVG was rasterized and then vectorized using potrace. The resulting pattern was cut out of a 2-ply mat board.
• For each card, a list of candidate Flickr photos was generated based on interestingness, proximity to the recipient's address, and license. From this list, an appropriate photo was chosen manually. (I had initially tried to automate this but I ended up with too many pictures of other people's food and newborn babies.) The final photos were printed on RC paper.
• Business information from Yelp was arranged using force-directed layout code provided by the Adaptagrams library. The resulting text and line art was laser printed onto a translucent vellum envelope.
• The three pieces of the card (front, back, photo) were assembled with linen tape with a hinge on the top edge.
• After the card was placed into the envelope, the side with the flap was covered with a large address label, making the back of the envelope the front.
• Approximately 85 cards were produced.

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