CardWave
Design

eCards by design style

Pick the visual mood first, the message second. Each style page collects every occasion and recipient voice rendered in that visual language — animated to elegant, watercolor to minimalist.

Animated

Subtle motion, looping animations and gentle transitions. Designed to play in email previews and as autoplay video on social. Best for moments where the design itself should carry energy.

Browse Animated eCards →
Watercolor

Soft painted washes, hand-mixed pigments, brushstroke edges. Works for tender moments — sympathy, anniversary, mother's day — and for warmer holiday cards.

Browse Watercolor eCards →
Minimalist

A lot of empty space, one strong typographic statement, and a single accent color. Ideal for thank-you and professional-tone cards where the wording carries the message.

Browse Minimalist eCards →
Illustrated

Custom hand-drawn illustration — characters, scenes, ornament. Designed to feel personal, specific, and a little playful. Reads beautifully on a phone screen.

Browse Illustrated eCards →
Funny

Humor-forward designs and wording. Big visual jokes, single-line punchlines, and templates written for people who use the laughing-crying emoji unironically.

Browse Funny eCards →
Elegant

Refined, restrained, formal-leaning. Serif typography, jewel-tone accents, gold-foil-style highlights. For weddings, anniversaries, condolences, and any moment that calls for formality.

Browse Elegant eCards →
Recommended reading

Editor's picks across the web

Etiquette

A short history of the digital greeting card, and where it goes next

A long-form piece on how the eCard moved from a kitschy 1990s curiosity to the default way most adults send a birthday wish today.

Wording

What to write in a sympathy card you cannot bring yourself to write

Practical, honest guidance for the cards we put off the longest. Includes a three-line frame you can use the next time the moment comes.

Holidays

The morning-of holiday text: why it lands harder than the mailed card

An argument for sending your Christmas, Hanukkah, or Eid greetings the morning of, not the week before.

Relationships

Cards for coworkers: the awkward, useful art of the work goodbye note

A field guide to writing a card for someone you sit next to but do not know especially well, including five lines that always work.

Design

Why animated eCards finally look good (and what changed)

A tour through the technical and aesthetic shifts that made digital cards feel less like spam and more like real correspondence.

Sending

A guide to sending cards across time zones (and never being the late one)

Scheduling, queuing, and the small rituals that keep birthday and holiday wishes landing on the right calendar day.