This is a dynamic mouse-controlled “game” which I found amazing. Click and flick technology lets you zoom in or out of this picture set, which is actually on a huge loop. It goes DEEP, and the first few runs through I was completely baffled by how it kept going and going. The possibility of using this as a web site interface is intriguing, and I would have liked to see this go much much further. Maybe going sideways as well? But I think that would have taken much more art then the artist had on hand.

http://soytuaire.labuat.com/

Just about the coolest thing to ever be created in flash. A mouse position based music “drawing game”, unfortunately in Italian(?), but still incredible. The mouse position controls where the line drag is laid down, with dynamic elements popping out in time to the music. Absolutely mind-blowing in the amount of work put into this action, with each element so well developed that it flows seamlessly. It also records your “run” of the song, so you can play it back again without even having to move the mouse.

http://www.rulethestars.com/

A simple concept taken to a very polished and refined end. Simple pen tool functionality “game” but the idea is that it is in the stars, which adds another layer of interest. Also with a nice music overlay, and a gallery of very cool samples of other peoples “star drawings”. Once you try it on a more than spamming basis, it’s incredibly fun, and you can get sucked in very easily. I would have liked to see the functions work more smoothly, or have a better 3-D feeling. Maybe color changes, or changing would also spice it up.

http://www.talktofrank.com/basement.aspx

I don’t usually subscribe to the anti-drug commercials, finding them to be both condescending and completely idiotic, but this one (about cocaine) is neither. Very dirty, very scary, almost cut from a horror movie, this is something that is hard to stop checking out. Presented straight-up, this is a collection of mini-games with information about different aspects of cocaine use, addiction, etc.

http://webupon.com/web-talk/10-awesome-flash-animated-interactive-websites/

A cool resource with a few extra sites ^_~

I really like this flash website and think it is a great educational tool. Visually overall it is engaging and fun. The illustrations are well done and appealing (especially to children). The interactive elements make it more interesting beyond just pointing and clicking. Additionally, I think it does a good job in incorporating educational  information and making the information easy to learn, yet still making it not boring. The only thing that bothers me with the website is the sound in the background and that there is no way to turn it off through the website, but that isn’t too big of a deal.

http://www.cafesonique.com/launch/flash.php

I like this site for creating an interesting virtual reality. I like how it utilizes color and moves the viewer through space. Though sometimes it moves a little fast, which may be do to lack of detailed illustrations. The rollovers and informational aspects of this piece enhance the users experience, and help the user fully explore the space. I wish the swf within the html page was a little larger allowing for a “better” view and a more encapsulating experience. I enjoy the element of real people in the artist building, but would like to see this element in other portions of the project. In the ended it is a very well done interactive swf and fun to explore.

10-7-09

Mike and Nina are from Monigle and associates (they worked with Scott Serine for a number of years). They came to give a brown bag lecture on their design process. They started off by talking about collaboration and the five essentials of their design process, which are respect, lower your guard, be open-minded, your thought process, and appreciation requiring at least two people.

They moved on to passion, with a statement of “You must feel it in your bones. You have to inspire the client, have conviction for your work; if you don’t believe in it the client won’t either. Lastly, be a storyteller, romance sells. Get inspired. Expose yourself to new places, foods, ideas, concepts, and theories. You have to push beyond your comfort zone to experience new things.”

When they take on a new project they go through a process each time. They first have to discover the platform they are working with. They have to get as much info as possible form the client which begins with a series of interviews. They then move on to their creative session which starts with organizing their team, moves on to warm up drills, encouraging wild ideas (all the while knowing that they have a judge-not policy), and then they let the ideas percolate for while.

The next step is to come up with words and put images to them. The words are the ideas that tell the story and the images set the tone. They move on to designing, refining, client presentation, more refinement, and implementation.

Their speech was a look at a real world firm and how they do their word, day to day, and how they achieve the final product. I’ve heard them speak before and I am quite impressed with how much information they have that is going to be useful in my very near future.

Having been to several museums including New York Met, Guggenheim, MOMA, and Denver’s own DMA and the tiny Kirkland Museum, I am astonished at how crazy security and strict rules enforced at each establishment, yet the way much of the work is kept in their storage facility lacks organization or real protection.  For example the Kirkland Museum.  My Art Nouveau class took a field trip there last semester.  It was nothing but tiny rooms stuffed with priceless breakable nic nacs and dishware that were just cluttered on the shelves in no particular order.  Many things were not dated and when I asked about a few particular pieces the staff made an educated guess as to the date and relevance of the item.  Our tour guide also lacked any knowledge of various art periods and our teacher had to step in and redo the entire tour to tell us something informative.  The guide actually, took notes!  We were allowed to see their storage facility in the basement.  Metal racks on wheels containing numerous glassware items and other pieces were just sitting on the shelves with no protection from falling off.  I could not believe it.  When we were at the AIGA lecture I had a flashback to the Kirkland experience and just wonder how art manages to survive centuries of being mishandled. Hopefully, Alfred and the other curators will be able to process and organize all of the items so the public can one day enjoy them in a permanent exhibit catering to the art of design, bringing an appreciation and awareness to the creativity and labor of love designers have to offer in various mediums other than just paint and pottery, which seems to dominate most exhibits seen today.

The interesting thing about Art and Anthropology is the versatility and creative exploration journey they continue to lead.  I am also drawn to the tactile sense of their work as well.  Unfortunately, their web site, nicely showcasing images of past work in a slide show manner, does not have any About or History info which is kind of disappointing.  Also, they use the Mac mail messenger express, which is downright annoying because I have yet to figure out how to sign up or delete it from my computer!  I would say that A and A have contributed some great design work for Denver, due to such a large client base, that continues to grow.  Another fact that makes Jason Otero “human” and not an “uptight” designer is his down to earth style and personality, which shows through in his work.  Otero showed some images of his work space and his collection of comics and passion for transformers.  There were hundreds of them sitting on shelves and his eyes smiled when he mentioned them.  That type of realness gives me hope that not all designers are full of themselves, above everyone else, and caught in a typographic bubble.  Designing with not only the basic elements is necessary, but to also include how the material feels or evokes emotion.  Those are two qualities I always incorporate in all of my design work, and I find it sad that some do not.  They seem detached from their work, just trying to make it look good or work for the assignment.  I look forward to graduating and becoming a part of the professional design world, and creating outstanding work, with heart, feeling, emotion, precision and creativity for others to enjoy and experience.

This is incredible. Starting from an awesome preloader which works in a very original manner, this site is so perfectly fitting to the product it is attempting to sell. Very slick interface, switching seamlessly between flash-based representations of it’s product versus the inferior competing product. The video that they made to demonstrate is also very captivating, and hard to look away from.

Panasonic PMA Show: http://www.panasonic.com.au/pmashow/

This is a digital “tour” of this Panasonic exhibition, which is basically a 360 degree picture patchwork of the displays. The very simple but effective click and drag navigation is very nice, and the effortless switch between the views is something to really appreciate. You’d expect nothing less from a professional site for a major imaging corporation.

Quake Quiz: http://quakequizsf.org/

A very flashy interactive educational site that makes it fun to learn about earthquake safety procedures. The way that the information is highlighted is very nice, and draws attention well, while holding the attention of the viewer. The way that everything zooms and moves and transforms is a perfect example of how you can use flash to make a website massively interesting through movement and interactivity.

Interactive Mummy exhibit: http://www.mcq.org/momies/

This interesting flash site is half edutanment, half virtual tour. There are some mini-games to demonstrate knowledge gained from the info part, and are all very simple and fun. More drag and drop interfaces, moving and clickable menu items, and navigation is tucked neatly away inside of the graphics, making is almost seamless.

The search redirected me to http://www.ptable.com/. The site features an interactive periodic table. I
never liked science and the only reason I was motivated to go to Chemistry class was because I liked a
girl in class…but, let’s pretend for a second that my name is Dilbert Strider (no offense to my friend
Dilbert) and that I am a Cheminformatics student. If that was the case, I should be fu**** excited!

Just consider this…the site is completely interactive (although I’m not sure if it Flash was used). The
homepage reveals a large periodic table and the user can rollover each element, which serves as
navigation. For instance, I decided to click on the element Gallium…a new window pops up and has
detailed information about that specific element including general properties, physical properties,
atomic properties, and more. Closing that window simply redirects you back to the homepage.

Powerade
I keep running into cool flash sites related to the sports industry. This time, who knows how, I ended up
in the Powerade website. (Does that happen to everyone or is it just me? You know….when you get to a
website and you have no idea how you got there!) Although the website is about a rather lame topic, (I
mean, come on, its about a drink), the website is one of the best I’ve seen. First of all, the overall design
is flawless. The homepage incorporates intriguing black and white photography, a black background,
and buttons/navigation that resemble an element in the periodic table.
What’s most successful about this website is its interactivity, particularly the transitions from one page
to another. For instance, in the “the story page,” I move my mouse over an image of an athlete
sponsored by Powerade. Once the rollover occurs, the image blurs and is reduced to several pixel-like
squares. From there, the image transitions into three three graphic elements that resemble a periodic
table. This graphic has information about some elements that make up the product; sodium, potassium,
calcium.

I could go all night describing the cool transitions and interactivity that make up this site but I just
realized that I’ve spent way too much time looking at this website. No human being should spend that
much time looking at a “sports drink” website on a Sunday night….thanks Dina!

I found this site and thought it was done very well. The animations in the toons area is very cool. They used photographs and animated them in flash – check it out!

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/showdown

I liked this animation I found – its kinda dumb, but I am easily entertained! The animation and graphics look like they were rendered in flash, and all fit together nicely. If you like silly stuff, check it out.

Horror!

This page belongs to Amos O. Olangunju, apparently a professor at St. Cloud State University, and also apparently a page connected to the University’s larger Web site. Everything about this is so wrong, from Olangunju’s misshapen portrait to the never-ending text scroll to the somersaulting panda icon to the vibrating red text on khaki-green background. Enjoy!

Next we have an offering from the Northbridge, MA, Police Department. Yikes! Highlights include a waving clip-art flag, more scrolling text (this time in lovely Lucida Calligraphy) red copy made nearly unreadable on a grey background textured with repeated words (Police Police Police Police), and pictures that take so long to load they make one want to scream.

So if you’re feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing, take a look at these gems and definitely feel better about yourself. (And hope that nothing you create ever ends up on this Web site!)

I love this site. Actually, I love the preloader for this site, it is totally charming and unique. Even if you don’t want to explore the site, you should at least go watch the preloader. I did think the animation was engaging and I liked the characters that take the viewer from one area to the next. Unfortunately though, after I entered the site and figured out how to move around, it seemed a little awkward and not quite what I was hoping for. Plus, I went through the whole site a couple of times and I never could find the five hidden items that revealed the secret areas.

FWA Photo

I was really attracted to the simplicity of this site. After  looking around for a good flash site for my last blog, I’ve grown very weary of blinking, jumping, beeping animations. I came across this site and it was like a breath of fresh air. The black background with the white text is a good contrast, and it doesn’t compete with the images on the site. Plus, the idea behind the site is really cool. It’s just basically intended to showcase one interesting photograph per day. And, it’s got an iphone app which sends the photo of the day to your phone…I think I’m going to download that.