Cardillon makes greeting cards that open like paper ones. You lift the cover, the scene rises in cut-paper layers, the light comes on and a music box plays, a different tune for each card. It's my own product: I designed and built it, and it's live on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
The problem
Digital greeting cards are either a static image in a chat or a heavy e-card site full of ads and sign-ups. The charm of a paper pop-up card is the moment it opens, and the people who receive one are often older relatives on any phone. So the card had to feel like an object, and opening it had to need nothing: no app, no account, no ads.
My role
Everything: product idea, pricing, UX and UI, the paper scenes and their opening mechanics, the music box, the site, and the build for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android and Windows, written with an AI coding agent while I owned the design and every decision.
Opening is the product
Each card is a real pop-up mechanism rendered in 3D with Three.js. Every figure is hinged at its own depth and stays parallel to the back page, held by small paper tabs, as in a paper card, so it folds flat when closed and rises in layers as you open it. Fully open, the light comes on and the figures take their colors. Paper grain, cut edges and shadows are drawn per layer.
From closed to open: the cover lifts, the layers rise, the light comes on.
Happy birthday, Congratulations, I love you, and a seasonal holiday card.
Sending takes a minute
Pick a card, write their name, a few lines and your signature in a handwritten script, and send it from Messages, WhatsApp or anywhere. If you don't know what to write, a message is ready to start from. The card arrives as a link.
The three steps in the app: choose, write, send.
Opening needs nothing
Whoever receives it opens it from the link on any phone or computer, Android included, with a finger or the mouse. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, no ads before the card. The message is set large below the scene, because it's often read by older people.
Two devices get more: on a MacBook, Cardillon Viewer opens the card as you lift the screen, reading the lid angle. On a foldable iPhone, the card opens as you open the phone.
On a phone from the link, and on a MacBook with the lid.
Key decisions
Only the sender needs the app. The person who receives the card never sees a store or a login.
Simple pricing: the first three cards are free, then packs of 1, 5 or 15 cards as in-app purchases. No subscription, no account.
A credit is used only when the card is actually shared.
Seasonal cards (holidays, Christmas, New Year, Epiphany) appear in the app only in their season.
Italian and English, following the device language. The card speaks the sender's language.
Status
Live on the App Store for iPhone and iPad (version 1.2), and on Macs with Apple silicon. Android and Windows are coming. It's new, so no users or reviews are claimed here. Images are taken from the live site with sample names.
0 likes · 0 views · Nov 13, 2026
My own app on the App Store: animated pop-up greeting cards that open like paper, light up and play a music box tune. Sent as a link, opened with no app.
