One idea I have is to make something that looks a bit like a chalk drawing. Not intricately shaded and coloured to look realistic but a simple style, a bit like a child but not looking bad on purpose. Just to capture the look of the material on black card. Here is an example from a stock photo to illustrate the look:
http://thumb10.shutterstock.com.edgesuite.net/display_pic_with_logo/449803/449803,1250580298,1/stock-photo-white-flower-on-a-blackboard-child-chalk-drawing-stylization-35446042.jpg
I experimented in Photoshop to get an idea of what I could do:
Another idea I have is to create a neon look. Much like neon signs that populate areas with a large night life scene (Las Vegas for example). I like the intense brightness and highlights contrasted against darkness. I don't think I want to recreate the mechanical look of neon signs, so I wouldn't make it look like it was coming from tubes or metal but the visual style I find interesting. Here is a visual example to illustrate what I mean:
http://www.myneonhaven.com/Neon-signs/uploaded_images/outdoor-neon-sign-775483.jpg
Another idea I have is based on a videogame called Persona 4 for the Playstation 2. The title screen uses 2 different styles that are like rotoscoping of the 3D models. The first features characters randomly scattered about the screen coloured in different shades of yellow against an image. The solid colours of the animated characters against the detailed background image creates a good contrast.
The second is a rotoscope of a character running in slow motion. This time everything around the character becomes a solid colour and you see the image behind it through where the character should be. This uses concepts of negative space to create the image of a person running.
I tested my idea:
These ideas are very appealing to me but heavily time consuming as the animation contains several layers which means drawing each frame several times. I will experiment with some ideas.