Google Maps Envelopes
Story by:
Jenni Chasteen
Does your mailman ever get lost? Maybe he should switch from MapQuest to Google Maps. Or you could do it for him—sort of.
Back in 2010, Syracuse University industrial design students Rahul Mahtani and Yofred Moik dreamed up Google Envelopes, a concept that would add a “Send Envelope” option to Gmail. Instead of sending another email, your message would be printed and mailed in an envelope showing the Google Maps route between the sender and recipient.
It was only a concept, not an actual Google service, but it was a pretty great collision of email and snail mail.
There was one flaw with the design: the sender and recipient had to fall in roughly the right positions on the map for the address labels to sit properly on the envelope. Otherwise, you’d have to rotate the map and abandon the sacred rule that north belongs at the top.
I like this idea. Would love to be able to send an envelope to my granddaughter like this. What if you put arrows going in the correct direction
Or, as long as the address bubble is in the correct space, the map route could be anything–you just have to extend the end points to the return address/address side correctly.
I like the concept, not sure of how to fine-tune it. I guess you could do it with the disclaimer “Not geographically accurate” or just put the compass rose on it so people could turn to north.
can’t wait until envelopes are made out of thin display screens so that the postman can zoom in on the map….
I love the idea!! but I am confused…is this just a concept for now or can I make them and if so, then HOW??!! Thanks 🙂
Trying to stop a cat fight is dangerous to your health. You will be mauled like a bear.
This idea would be great in birthday parties and other gathering!
Oh you guys are taking this too seriously. They’re just trying to be cute with their words. It’s just a neat envelope…that’s all.
You would also need a printer that can bleed to the edges, otherwise, it wouldn’t look as sharp.
So much FUN! – not serious – Think this absolutely adorable – especially since my 95 yr old grandfather can’t hear me through the phone and I hand write him letters every couple of weeks to keep him in touch with our family since I don’t get to spend time with him as much as I’d like living 13 hrs from “home”. I bet he’d LOVE to see this!
This would be great for wedding invitations to show approximately where the wedding is and how far away it is!
Hahaha…. How funny that nearly ALL of you think a postman is going to actually use the map. So hilarious!! Thank you so much for making me laugh!
I like the idea of East to West ‘crossing’ to the back of the envelope. I always put the return address on the back anyway.
@ashleigh
THANK YOU!
Uh people, I think it’s just for fun. The post office delivery person will not actually be using the directions. So who cares if it’s not perfect. It’s just supposed to look neat.
Except if the mail is traversing very long distances … in which case this is rather silly. Unless you simply show the address it is to.
I agree with Linda. It’s more practical to show the exact location of the reciever address so the mailman knows the wich way to take ( specially with international mail, because no mailman will travel from usa to france and follow the map on the envelope!)
Still, a lovely concept I might adopt myself.
Cool idea, but mail is rarely sent along the most direct route, usually going through mail centres instead.
i think a better idea would be to zoom in on the To: address location, so posties know exactly which house to go to.
…but how about just making the “tail” of the return address box longer if it has to cross over the front of the envelope?
@Sam, but that would mean the route connecting them cuts off. The better solution would be to flip everything upside and just use a guide showing which way is north.
Since the world is round. Every point can be displayed as east of a west point. Admitted the distance may increase to nearly the circumference of Earth for close distances but it can still be done
sweet concept! one could use the back of the envelope for west to east directions if you wanted to keep the North up