Arrggh I did not realize this post was due yesterday. But I finally found a really cool flash site.
Red Interactive Agency, whose website is ff0000.com (the html code for red, which is an incredibly fantastic idea), is a design company that has been around since 1999, and has done some pretty big work. They have offices in Santa Monica, CA and Salt Lake City, UT.
But this site is absolutely incredible. The minimalist red, black, and white color scheme looks clean and professional, and all the red text ties in perfectly with the name of the company. The site loads in very smoothly, with everything popping in from the sides. All the content is in the center of the page, with a small menu of page links on the top right. Clicking on any of these brings up new content in the content area, offering links to other sites that they have designed, or just text about the company and what they do, who they are.
But this site is so much more than this. Looking below the actual content, you will see an avatar (or several, depending on who is visiting the site) standing on turquoise-colored grass. Below that is a bar displaying options and other things related to the site. It took me a second to realize that I could actually move my avatar, and actually walk along in the 2-D world that was the website. As I walked down the hill, the rest of the site (all the content) stayed where it was, and I could move around freely in a very unique little world. This is a really cool idea, and really surprises you and creates a fantastic visual effect.
After walking around a bit, you will notice that you have the option of chatting with other visitors to the site. Again, a really neat addition to the site, and the chat comes up in little boxes above people's heads. This makes the site even more interactive, giving users a way to communicate and explore the site with others. You also have the options of changing your avatar, and filling out info on where you are from, etc. so others can see who they are talking to.
So this site utilizes Flash in really powerful and creative ways. And this company knows what they're doing. They say that they've had 23 FWA awards on sites that they've done (including this, their portfolio). They've worked for a ton of really big companies. And this site of theirs is phenomenal.
Frank
LG's site for their new phone the dLite, built in flash. Their new phone looks to have lights on the front cover of the flip phone. What I think is really cool is they used this and created a music video with this pixel-like lights on their phones. You can watch the music video that they have made or you can use some premade sequences to create your own video.
They also highlight the product with what you would expect from a phone advertisement or website with a 360 view, color choices, and features.
Lastly, there is a game Light Pads that requires the use of your webcam. The video will load up and detect motion on your webcam to light up the dots and play music. Each sound is different and you can make some music here. The motion detection is very sensitive and there aren't that many different sounds or songs you can create, but it is simple and the idea is good.
I like how clean the site looks. The navigation is found on the left with ethereal swirling atoms. There is a good amount of work put into this advertisement and it is fun. The music video they created is really impressive and I like the subtle spacey music playing in the background. Enjoy!
www.smartwebby.com/Flash/sound_in_button.asp
I stumbled across this site while having some button problems in Flash. The screen shots and step by step instructions were very helpful for that task in particular. This was part of the creating advanced Flash buttons page, and there were also instructions on how to make other kinds of buttons. They have information and tutorials for a number of different programs.
www.w3schools.com/flash/default.asp
I’m sure many people are familiar with www.w3schools.com. I used to frequent it often for help with html coding, but I never looked at it further until now. It also has a large amount of Flash information. What is nice about this site, as opposed to a lot of tutorial sites, is that there is an overview of the information. This way, you can see the major categories and go from there, as opposed to filtering through several pages of often unorganized tutorials that may or may not be relevant to the topic you are interested in.
http://www.flashdesignerzone.com/tutorials/
This website is also top on my list because of its easy to navigate library. The sections are further broken down into the actual topics that the tutorials cover. I also prefer the screen shot and text tutorials as opposed to most video tutorials. I feel like they go so fast, and with these, I can read at my own pace, and match my screen to the fixed image, not having to worry about the screen moving or changing.
http://www.flashdesignerzone.com/tutorials/t1014.php
What I also like, is how you can view the finished product. This allows you to “match” it with your work, to make sure the exercise has been completed fully and correctly.
http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Animating-an-Explosion/60699
With this site, the uniqueness of the tutorials’ subject matter is what interested me. Instead of having the generic bouncing ball animations, or something that you see all of the time, this site shows a very interesting variety of animations. It makes the tutorials more fun, and it also allows newer users, like me, to more easily see firsthand the expansive nature of Flash.
As far as tutorials are concerned, most sites are similar, there are either videos are images containing step by step directions on how to complete a certain task. It is the way that this is executed that makes these sites successful for users. With so many different options, and people having their own personalized teaching and learning techniques, there are a multitude of resources. There’s something out there for everyone, you just have to go out and find it.
My blog today is about the site http://perrierbydita.com/ which won the FWA site of the month award on August 2, 2010.
This site is visually stunning and suitable for viewers who are over 18 years old. The first screen has a sports car driving up to the Perrier mansion, and at the gate the car stops. The user must input a birth date that is more than 18 years ago to pass the gate. This screen was fun and a fresh way to screen underage users.
After passing the login screen the user drives into the erotic fantasy land of Parrier mansion. The entire experience uses video clips instead of vector or bitmapped based graphics.
The visuals in this mansion are opulent, with highly intricate details including exquisite furniture, crystal chandeliers, textured wallpapers, and ornate architecture. Users interact with the main character dressed in a sultry outfit of silk, fur and rhinestones. Within this candle lit mansion the user is able to move into rooms called the dark room and roll the dice room.
The dark room has an interface that enables a user to take photos of the main character. The flash reveals her in provocative poses. I know that sex sells so this gui is capitalizing on this reality. Unfortunately there is not a male version of this main character so they have limited their market a bit here.
The second room is a dice game of truth or dare. The main character has several actions associated with a dice roll. The actions themselves are sensual acts.
The final scene that I tapped into was a tease scene which actually introduced the product. The main character is prancing around tempting the user to click on her, with a warning onscreen to not touch her. The timeless theme of Adam and eve and the garden of eden is employed here and the user will click on the character to get splashed.
I think that Nylon studios created an interesting web site which stretches the line between art anda commercial with interesting visual, audio and thematic effects.
The website of famous author JK Rowling has been a favorite of mine for many years. As most people know she is the author of the ‘Harry Potter’ series, and since these are (I believe) her only published works, one would think that her website would be entirely Harry Potter themed. However, the designers of this site took a very unique approach. The Flash-based website is like taking a tour of the famed writer’s workspace and home. You start out with a view of a cluttered desk and as you mouse over the various objects on the desk, you see that they are links to take you to various parts of the website like ‘Bio’ “News’ ‘Links’ etc..
For example if you click the glasses it will take you over to this bookshelf where there are links to JK Rowling’s publishers and other organizations she is affiliated with.
Clicking the black clip on the desk will take you to the trophy area, where the current top ‘Harry Potter’ fan sites are listed.
One of the best features of this website is the abundance of hidden interactive games. If you spend enough time on the website looking around and clicking things, you will eventually collect objects that let you access hidden information, or figure out riddles that will take you to otherwise inaccessible pages. I found this to be a really cool tie-in to mystery of the Harry Potter universe, without it being too blatantly ‘Harry Potter-ish’.
The design studio that made this site is called Lightmaker, and you can see their other projects by going to their website: http://www.lightmaker.com/
They have a wide variety of things in their portfolio, including websites for Disney, other book websites, and some business websites, but I think my favorite still has to be www.jkrowling.com/
