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Learning Flash...
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thats better than the others, however I would have liked a way to speed up the gallery bit, the animation was too slow for my taste.
i love how you can pontificate upon 'design principles' and yet get the most simple precepts of simple communication so wrong. Shucks
But surely the fact that you knew which word he was trying to spell means that actually the 'simple communication' was successful?
Also, correcting people's spelling/grammar on the internet - so, so lame. You understood what he was saying, don't be a ballbag about an incorrectly spelled word!
Similar to the initial example, here is another example of how creativity usign flash has sacrificed the most fundamental elements of web design - navigation and usability/functionality.
www.maclaren.com
www.maclaren.com
The whole point is for customers to get a good idea of the work they do. They wanted it to be 3 seconds screen time, i got them down to 2. So i'm happy.
Still need to tweek the galleries a little.
Not everyone is as smart as you think I am, thanks for the new insult. Beats "Douche bag" by a 'hair'.... (appreciate your grammar, by the way)
well theres no reason you couldn't add in a pause/skip (I kept wanting to click on the pictures to the right) feature as its flash after all, I've seen some flash sites actually have a slider to control speed of slideshow etc.
Nice links, I'm bookmarking them now.
Flash is one of those applications where it starts to get hard once you get into the actionscripting. If you're familiar with other Adobe programs you shouldn't have any problems learning it.
Flash is a great application to learn, have fun
well, like i said before i agree to disagree. I think creative interfaces that need to be figured out are fun and entertaining. Not every website is targeted to the same general population. if your target is creative individuals, then the website, interface and menu can take some creative liberty. I don't always want to see it spelled out for me. I do want it to be useable, but useability shouldn't sacrafice concept, just as concept should sacrafice all useability.
www.callingtonstudios.co.uk/flash.html
That is a nice site, but it loads very slowly, and i totally agree with the slideshow taking too long. skip button would've been nice. But, i'll throw my website out in the mix...it's no whwere near done, and ignore the swirly/girly/things on the font page, because it's a place holder for something else. It was just there for the timing. Anyway, it's useable, loads fast (though not done), and simple. Yes...i could've done most of this in HTML/CSS/Etc..., but it wouldn't have been as fluid.
www.jasonrogersdesigns.com
-JE
www.callingtonstudios.co.uk/flash.html
That is a nice site, but it loads very slowly, and i totally agree with the slideshow taking too long. skip button would've been nice. But, i'll throw my website out in the mix...it's no whwere near done, and ignore the swirly/girly/things on the font page, because it's a place holder for something else. It was just there for the timing. Anyway, it's useable, loads fast (though not done), and simple. Yes...i could've done most of this in HTML/CSS/Etc..., but it wouldn't have been as fluid.
www.jasonrogersdesigns.com
-JE
Jason, I understand it takes a while to download, unfortunately the images are all 72d.p.i and as small as they can realiustically be.
You guys have an obsession with speed of animations. If you were looking for a photographer surely you'd want to see examples of their work clearly? I know it's not ideal, but the size of the file is purely dependent of the actualy images. I would love to cut it down, but they want even more images as time progress'. However I will start to reduce the length of animations over time.
It is also why I have produced a HTML version of the site. Unfortunately things are not ideal but as clarity of image is the utmost importance for them, they site is as they want it.
You guys have an obsession with speed of animations. If you were looking for a photographer surely you'd want to see examples of their work clearly? I know it's not ideal, but the size of the file is purely dependent of the actualy images. I would love to cut it down, but they want even more images as time progress'. However I will start to reduce the length of animations over time.
It is also why I have produced a HTML version of the site. Unfortunately things are not ideal but as clarity of image is the utmost importance for them, they site is as they want it.
Jason, I understand it takes a while to download, unfortunately the images are all 72d.p.i and as small as they can realiustically be.
You guys have an obsession with speed of animations. If you were looking for a photographer surely you'd want to see examples of their work clearly? I know it's not ideal, but the size of the file is purely dependent of the actualy images. I would love to cut it down, but they want even more images as time progress'. However I will start to reduce the length of animations over time.
It is also why I have produced a HTML version of the site. Unfortunately things are not ideal but as clarity of image is the utmost importance for them, they site is as they want it.
Working on adding play and stop buttons, but other things are more important at the minute.
You guys have an obsession with speed of animations. If you were looking for a photographer surely you'd want to see examples of their work clearly? I know it's not ideal, but the size of the file is purely dependent of the actualy images. I would love to cut it down, but they want even more images as time progress'. However I will start to reduce the length of animations over time.
It is also why I have produced a HTML version of the site. Unfortunately things are not ideal but as clarity of image is the utmost importance for them, they site is as they want it.
Working on adding play and stop buttons, but other things are more important at the minute.
yes it is a nice site but most of the basis is around html styling. Apart from the fancy animations (some of which are in html now) and break out of the box on some pages most of it could be done in html (might need a bit of javascript for the menus).
But again I had to wait for the initial page to load, and I'm not on a slow connection either, something thats very rare on html
Nice looking site, but again they have used flash for the sake of it. What is the points of the backgrounds?
There are amazing graphics, but what do they actually add to the usefulness of the site?
I may be alone in this, but I have always thought, the most important thing was ease of use/practicality. THey clearly aren't a company that beleives, less is more.
yeah, honestly. I wouldn't have used that to make my point with. That is a great site, but i'm personally not a fan of the drop down menu hunt, where you have to follow text based menus for 4 years to find something. Following a time line, or text rotating and flying by...i'm totally fine with.
-JE
so...let me guess, your favorite site in the world is http://www.something.com/
It has nothing in it that takes away from it's usefullness, it's easy to use, and it is all HTML.
-JE
I doubt it, I'd say he's more after a balance (like me) of ease of use and overall design, both of which should be in harmony and benefit the other, not hinder it or make it overly long winded etc.
You are not alone!
If your website consists of a single page, and a flash animation, it is not a website!
I hate websites that are 100% flash, So much can be done now using open source javascript frameworks! Plus when you use javascript you make it accessible for people with special needs.
Flash is a plugin! If I am not able to use our website without a plugin, it is no longer a website IMO! Now if you want to add little eye candy that doesnt affect the overall usability of the site, that is certainly acceptable!
I totally agree, I find 99% of the full Flash sitses out there are redundant and could have been done better with HTML.
The only time that I have found Flash web sites to be 100% useful is for design portfolios, being able to put you're entire portfolio onto a protected SWF does have some very good copyright bonus (I have had my artwork ripped off before I changed to a 100% Flash site) and also you can port them to a multimedia CD-ROM for clients as well.
I've been using Flash for a month or so, and most of the concepts began to sink-in after a few weeks of intensive practice.
I bought a few books on the basics and bookmarked dozens of sites I found in google searches.
Personally, as a designer I now vastly prefer working in Flash compared to WYSIWYG website editors such as GoLive or Dreamweaver.
The main strength of Flash for me is ability to design freely without having to worry so much about the client browser, html formatting etc...
The designs always look the same regardless of the browser or platform they are viewed in.
Actionscript is actually not that difficult to implement once you understand the basics.
The first thing to master is proper browser detection and express installation of the flash plugin.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/fp8_detection.html
BTW, I tend to disagree with the blanket assertion that html sites are somehow superior to Flash sites in terms of usability or functionality.
In many respects, a preloaded flash site is actually far more responsive and free from errors than many complex html sites, in which links produce a blank page while the content is loaded.
(this is super-lame application behavior IMO, but people have been conditioned to accept this as being a part of the HTML web experience)
There is also the issue of client browser settings, versions, or configurations causing html sites to render inconsistently.
There is almost never an option to easily upgrade/modify the browser to render the site predictably, as there often is with Flash sites.
Take the Mac Rumors Forums site for example:
Stretch the Safari window to completely span the width and height of a 24" iMac.
Now look at the black stroke running along the top edge of the navbar at the top of the site; on my system the line ends prematurely just before the "search" link.
Insignificant, but it illustrates how html sites often fall apart in unexpected ways.
HTML was originally developed to allow scientists/researchers etc... to share data between obscure systems that could not otherwise communicate directly.
Not only is this really not actually the case with most contemporary websites, the idiosyncrasies and limitations of the aging HTML standard has created the perception that web applications (or websites) are the red-haired stepchildren of "true" desktop applications and games.
This may actually be true for most traditional html sites, but Flash sites are significantly closer to the desktop experience, and it's easier to achieve desktop-like responsiveness and advanced GUI effects in Flash than it would be in AJAX.
The fact that Flash sites are often too much like riding a rollercoaster is not an inherent flaw in the format.
I think it's just too easy to do, so lots of designers do it.
BTW, the Leopard GUI vs MacOS9 GUI is in many ways analogous to the difference between Flash and traditional HTML websites.
A "paradigm shift" causes what we hold sacred today to be viewed as quaint and obsolete tomorrow.
I bought a few books on the basics and bookmarked dozens of sites I found in google searches.
Personally, as a designer I now vastly prefer working in Flash compared to WYSIWYG website editors such as GoLive or Dreamweaver.
The main strength of Flash for me is ability to design freely without having to worry so much about the client browser, html formatting etc...
The designs always look the same regardless of the browser or platform they are viewed in.
Actionscript is actually not that difficult to implement once you understand the basics.
The first thing to master is proper browser detection and express installation of the flash plugin.
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flash/articles/fp8_detection.html
BTW, I tend to disagree with the blanket assertion that html sites are somehow superior to Flash sites in terms of usability or functionality.
In many respects, a preloaded flash site is actually far more responsive and free from errors than many complex html sites, in which links produce a blank page while the content is loaded.
(this is super-lame application behavior IMO, but people have been conditioned to accept this as being a part of the HTML web experience)
There is also the issue of client browser settings, versions, or configurations causing html sites to render inconsistently.
There is almost never an option to easily upgrade/modify the browser to render the site predictably, as there often is with Flash sites.
Take the Mac Rumors Forums site for example:
Stretch the Safari window to completely span the width and height of a 24" iMac.
Now look at the black stroke running along the top edge of the navbar at the top of the site; on my system the line ends prematurely just before the "search" link.
Insignificant, but it illustrates how html sites often fall apart in unexpected ways.
HTML was originally developed to allow scientists/researchers etc... to share data between obscure systems that could not otherwise communicate directly.
Not only is this really not actually the case with most contemporary websites, the idiosyncrasies and limitations of the aging HTML standard has created the perception that web applications (or websites) are the red-haired stepchildren of "true" desktop applications and games.
This may actually be true for most traditional html sites, but Flash sites are significantly closer to the desktop experience, and it's easier to achieve desktop-like responsiveness and advanced GUI effects in Flash than it would be in AJAX.
The fact that Flash sites are often too much like riding a rollercoaster is not an inherent flaw in the format.
I think it's just too easy to do, so lots of designers do it.
BTW, the Leopard GUI vs MacOS9 GUI is in many ways analogous to the difference between Flash and traditional HTML websites.
A "paradigm shift" causes what we hold sacred today to be viewed as quaint and obsolete tomorrow.