Instawink: Your Instagrams with a twist!

LONG BEACH, Calif., Aug. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Instawink.com has just completed the first week of its Kickstarter campaign, Instawink: your Instagrams with a twist! The campaign has shown that it has real potential. Instawink.com offers iphoneographers a new and unique way to enjoy both their still and video images. As avid Instagramers themselves, the developers of Instawink wanted to create something fun and distinctive with their own images.

"We were reminiscing about those toys we used to get in caramel corn or cereal boxes when we were kids," said Gonzalo Banuelos, co-creator of Instawink. "They had pictures on them that would flip back and forth. Sometimes they'd depict an epic battle between two super heroes, or other times they'd show a change in the seasons from winter to spring. I wondered, how hard would it be to create those things? So, I spoke with a friend who runs a print shop and knows the business inside and out. Next thing you know, Instawink was born." 

Instawinks are 3x3 inch, semi-rigid magnets containing two photographs and use a technology created in the late 1940s, lenticular lens filtering. When the Instawink is moved back and forth the images switch from one to the other, thus appearing to "wink." The images come from the Instagram user's own photo stream. And, because Instawink.com has developed a way to break Instagram video into individual frames, users can also select images from their videos when designing their custom Instawinks.

As the Instawink prototypes were being developed Banuelos shared some with his friends and family to gauge their interest. It wasn't long before they were sharing them with their friends, and before he knew it, they were coming back for more. They wanted to create interesting illusions or juxtaposed images that showcased their photos. They even made some as gifts and got good reactions from the people receiving them.

As work continued on the Instawink prototypes the developers made sure that all materials used in the product were sourced from companies within the United States. They also insisted that the Instawinks be produced domestically. Thus the Instawinks will be created and shipped from Long Beach, California while the website was created and is administered in Austin, Texas.

Banuelos plans to use the funds raised on Kickstarter to purchase additional equipment and automate more steps in the process of creating an Instawink. The Kickstarter is in its early stages but shows good traction.

Contact:
Gonzalo Banuelos
Press@instawink.com 

SOURCE Instawink.com