toonlet is a free

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wi ...

that allows users to create their own cartoon characters and

webcomics Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

. Founded in 2007 and opened to public beta in 2008, toonlet differs from other webcomic building tools in that comics are published on the site (or embedded elsewhere) similar to

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

posts, meaning they can be replied to.

Using toonlet

The toonlet character tool, which uses

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich web applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players. Fla ...

, allows people to build up characters from pre-defined parts which users are also free to supplement with their own. When their character is ready, they can save, and then swap out parts to build up a library of moods or poses to use in their comics. Completed comics are automatically posted in a forum format to the site. Others can reply with their own comic. Five to ten of the previous day's comics are added to the Top Strips section of the site daily. Comics can be sent to friends via email or embedded onto a blog or website. In addition to other users of toonlet, art packs have been created for the site by comic artists such as

Peter Bagge Peter Bagge (pronounced , as in ''bag''; born December 11, 1957) is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics ''Hate'' and '' Neat Stuff''. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduce ...

History

Headquartered in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, toonlet was founded in mid-2007 by CEO Craig Schwartz and CTO Seth Ladygo. The two made a beta version of the site live to the public at the end of the year. Previously, Schwartz worked at the video game publisher

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

as a Producer for

The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation game, life simulation video games developed by Maxis and video game publisher, published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling ...

and

SimCity ''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim ...

video games." Because toonlet hasn't accepted

institutional Institutions are humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain individual behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions a ...

(i.e.

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

angel investment An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

) funding, Craig also took a short writing contract for the highly anticipated ''Spore'' video game in late 2007. In mid-2008, Schwartz and Ladygo asked friend Ian Schlein to join the company as part-time Community Manager.

References

Sources

* * {{cite news , url=http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/_sid/fafa5d28ffe5a1dbed302fcd065050e7/action/detail/rid/33241/pg/10003 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225163947/http://www.oregonbusiness.com/.docs/_sid/fafa5d28ffe5a1dbed302fcd065050e7/action/detail/rid/33241/pg/10003 , url-status=dead , archive-date=2009-02-25 , work= Oregon Business Magazine , title=Start Me Up: The 10 Coolest Tech Startups You've Never Heard Of , date=July 2008 Websites about comics Companies based in Portland, Oregon American companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in Oregon Technology companies established in 2007 Companies disestablished in 2015 Publishing companies disestablished in 2015 Defunct technology companies of the United States