with the good, must come some bad

OK, so a few days ago I mentioned that I was nearing completion of the interactive site.
Needless to say, the perfecting I mentioned has resulted in some good (the final piece), and some bad (namely errors).

And these errors just don't make sense, which is frustrating!

I had a count down clock to use in the MINI section. In my test runs on a seperate Flash file it all worked with no problems. Bring that code over to the main project, insert the dynamic text box and what do ya know, it doesn't work. There were no compiler errors whilst exporting the movie, but it didn't work. Why? I don't know.

The solution I've had to implement to deal with this is probably the worst of them all - leave it out. Grrr!

Elsewhere in the troubled land of Flash CS3 AS3 is frame rate at which the videos are played back. I initially paid no attention to what fps they were imported and embedded with, but on watching and finding clips cut short, or sped up considerably I investigated and updated all the files.

Still though, I can't quite seem to get the fps exactly right. 25fps you think would do? What about 24.9? What about just play as original? I've tried them all and I still can't decide which is as it should be!!

The whole reason for this post is because with the evaluation approaching, it's good to get some cons down. And a few more days down the line, I'd no doubt forget this stuff and wear my rosetinted glasses, praising every pixel! lol

So reassurance for all, Flash doesn't always play nice. Suggestion: don't play back nice either, give it a lot of stuff to process and see it suffer! Ha ha

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Meanwhile user testing is underway, and I'm finding it very useful. Having sat with this work for hours and hours and hours upon end, I unknowingly see over what's not so obvious or what doesn't do what you'd expect. And here is where user testing reveals it's wonders.

The questionnaire was pretty simple enough to make, I have done enough myself to know what's worthwhile asking.

Once I gather in the last few questionnaires (obviously the more you do the better), 'Unwravel the Mystery' will be given one last polish and then published for good. Oh and then there's the evaluation report which wants to know about part one and two, and all in under 1500 words. Oh dear. Limited wordcounts pose problems for me!

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3 Electronic Portfolios - SPP1

www.nottoscale.tv - 20.5/25 = 82%



Initial impact – 4.5/5

Technology used is sophisticated, dynamic, appears very suave, sleek. Humorous large mouse cursor appears when using the ‘not to scale’ link.

Quality & range of work – 4/5

High standard of work, lots of content, but is limited to AV work, as they are an AV co. crediting their directors. Employers include Honda, The Mighty Boosh, Volvo.

Navigation - 4.5/5

Four separate areas, and you can access these via textual links, or the graphic links which float around the site – interchangeable. Once accessed, items are presented in a rollable show reel, or links below.

Supporting contextual info - 3.5/5

On the surface, not that much information made available. But going further, there are biogs, details.

Hanging togetherness - 4/5

Sleek, contemporary design, with motion that all flows nicely. Design scheme is implemented throughout – consistent.

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www.jam-factory.com - 20/25 = 80%



Initial impact – 4/5

Funky, cool, bright, vibrant.

Quality & range of work – 4/5

Web, graphics, painting, video, photography – very good spread. Also, funky style to his work – modern styles.

Navigation - 4/5

Typical webpage design. Links to each section on the left, with expanding options. Also, when going from individual item to the next, you can click and it will take you to the next one, rather than having to click back then find and click the next.

Supporting contextual info - 3.5/5

Limited info about each of the individual items, but his biog informs fairly well about himself. There is a blog link so you could find more about his work there.

Hanging togetherness - 4.5/5

I like how he’s gone for a punchy vibrant look which is also representative in his work as well – mirrors well. It all is very sleek looking, and well arranged. Only wish that the space he uses to showcase was larger!

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www.tanyamerone.com/#container - 15/25 = 60%



Initial impact – 2.5/5

Bit wallpaper-ey, colours quite calm, pastels - bland? Nice swirly horizontal divider, maybe a bit “pretty”.

Quality & range of work – 3/5

Print (logo, photography, illustration), web. The thumbnails all stick out as bright and vibrant against the pale background, and there is a range of stuff, different styles. Overall, does have quite a matt look to her work, rather than glossy.

Navigation - 2.5/5

One single page, with the sections at different levels down the page. Has included anchors which let you get back to the top, at each section. Some may see as old fashioned, others may see it as being per functionary.

On clicking on a specific thumbnail, a white square appears which zooms to the correct size of the item, blurring out the background in burgundy. Can then click on the image to go to next item, rather than go back and click on the next, user friendly in this aspect.

Supporting contextual info - 3/5

Biog is at the very top, with photograph and introduces the graphic designer well. Tells of her skill set also.

Other stuff could be more in depth, most do what it says on the tin. Can visit some of the websites and find out there. Many, many relevant external links, which you can check out.

Hanging togetherness - 4/5

Slightly alternate format, rather than the animated, jazzy shiny sites we are used to, but there is an inkling of this with the thumbnail loading screen. It goes in one direction (whether this is a good one or not) and more or less sticks at it.

national television - online web analysis

Today I came across a site, and I think for the first time, a site actually hit me and made me think: 'this is amazing.'





NATL


It is very much a graphic design site. For a AV company. On the homepage there are no pictures, borders, columns etc. There is a simple bright red background (a favourite colour of mine) and uppercase typefaces are striking and eyecatching and I liked this snubbing of traditional web design. in fact I really, really like NATL.


Moving your mouse over the site results in the mouseover effects on the textual buttons fading on and off, even this, a simple roll over, add to the visual appeal, the aesthetics for the site.

Being a keen fan of motion graphics, on clicking the buttons, it sweeps down more options, with no stutter and in a smooth, controlled manner. Again, another tick in the box.

Navigation wise, things motion on and off in a crisp, quick way, whether that be horizontally or vertically. You click a link, which then move to then make way for the newer information, whilst still remaining on screen (handy for when you want to choose next where to go.) And importantly, you can see the little arrow which takes you back to the main options. (Although on this dark background, some of the links weren't visible. A quick move of the mouse though and they glow, so not too bad.)





I think one of the reasons I like this site is because it's big (font and typeface) bright (red and contrasting colours), it's bold (for going pictures and typical layout structures). Funnily enough, I couldn't find any information on the site initially (whether that was due to not giving it enough time to load? Pre loader maybe needed?) but regardless, the basic design elements were enough. Who says that the web is only for holding information? Why not a digital gallery with some very nice looking pieces as well?


It actually reminded me of the Kook's artwork. They use this type of look in their band branding (try saying that quickly three times in succession!).


But all in all, I think I've found my FWA. Period.


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navigating your identity - update

It's been quite quiet on these here blog fronts recently, mainly because of Flash eating up my life.

Over the last week or so I have gone from HATING Flash, because it just wouldn't work. Why? Who knows why, but for some reason it wouldn't accept an incident as being called 'answer', it wanted it to be 'answer1'. It's mostly things like this that mean it takes about three tries to get the movie to export properly without compiler errors!!

Nonetheless, after trying and trying, it's setting in. I'm in the geeky way of things now as I can now write a command from the top of my head! And where I had problems before, for example, with getting the video to cue and play, then stop, and it just decided it would play through everything, I have now managed to beat Flash and have got it to stop. YAY!

All the sections are now complete: avatar, logo, stop motion, MINI game, Q&A test, Encrypted Code and I've been able to stray away a little from the typical "gotoAndStop" function for a few aspects of these sections, e.g. drag and drop, an input box, rotating puzzle pieces, points score.

The days left before hand in will see some scrutinous perfecting, which I am a sucker for. That's another part of my identity revealing itself outside of the box! ha

Also, I may try out adding an on/off sound button, because not everybody wants to be beaten down by the sound. Oh, and there's the dreaded preloader. I've already had a few unsuccessful attempts. Fingers crossed third time lucky! Praise be that this thing isn't going online, as I've quite a few videos embedded, and that would take forever to load.

Anyway, enough gab. Back to work... or not! lol

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titone - online web analysis

It's always the case, you wait for one bus and along come two. The SPP1 task I blogged about before saw us finding a practitioner. I today sat down to analyse another website for the Identities module and got both.

Matt Titone is the winner of the FWA today (Sun 20th April), and of the sites that I looked through, I fought that this is the nearest I've seen so far to a traditional website. However, it isn't that close to traditional when you look at it, really.

There are two navigation methods: the familiar point and click, which automatically you tend to choose, but then he has also included the option to navigate using keys. There is no exclusivity to the choice you make, you can swap between them at any point. Most computer users will be in tune with such a set up, for example, when writing a document, you flick between mouse and keyboard several times, so I think this is a worthwhile inclusion.

The menu options he uses are clear, it is easy to understand a distinction between print work, film work, interactive work.

The purpose of the site is to showcase his work, and as it is done by a graphic designer, as expected, it presents itself in a visually stylish way. The in colours nowadays are quite neutral, natural ones, so the browns looks quite suave. Also, when you want to look at the product he's created, most of the time it's a decent sized image - not a tiny thumbnail that requires you to squint. This is something I like, personally.

When navigating through the pieces of work he's made, your natural instinct is to click and wallah, on clicking, it swishes on to the next item, vertically. No need to scroll or follow a link (although the links are discreetly available). One suggestion that I could make, as noted before, is to let people know what to do, perhaps by a little note. You could just sit there and not see or know that there is more work.

The online portfolio, as a genre, is something reasonably simplistic. You put on what you've made, and just let people have a look. What is important though, is the overall presentation. It needs to be clear, and it needs to look good, as a respresentative of what you can make. Also, it needs to be easy to look around. Otherwise, the short attention span of web users will cast it aside if they can't click and see different thing, easily.

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As a quick side, I looked at the coke zero game and haagen daaz site, liked how they loaded their site slightly differently. For coke zero, instead of counting up to 100%, they count down, which for some reason gives it a slightly different feel. I liked it when I saw it, but now, I can't decide which I prefer, counting up, or counting down?! People are used to waiting a little now for a site to load, they just have to endure it. But a slight variation adds a little interest, breaking up the monotony. Be it a little line of text or animation, as in the honeybees site, where they say "hang in there, the bees are worth it".

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practitioners

Here's my pitch for a Multimedia practitioner for my chosen pathway (online environments).
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Rather than being a single person (which is actually quite hard to find, as most people sign themselves up and work for companies) I found lightmaker, a web/interactive/mobile based group who truthfully, have made a website for about every company going...
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BMW - check. BT - check. Bacardi - check. And that's only the B's.
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One site that I've known of before, and always like for it's individuality is JK Rowling's office desk. Surprise surprise, lightmaker were behind that site.
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So check them out even for a quick look at how many different things one company can spit out!
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I said I couldn't find any individual practitioners, but that isn't completely true. Being a graduate from Northbrook College, Adam Asigno's site http://www.code-d.com/ caught my eye because of the interactive piece he has floating smack bang in the middle of the site. I've never seen anything like it before, it's something quite original and fun. Also, the colours he's used make the site seem modern and sleek, providing a real professional feel, in my eyes.
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Oh, and if you want a laugh, look at his Tesco Value cards. Pure genius! .
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stop motion - double meaning

With two weeks to go until I expect to start user testing you'd think that Flash would be getting attention left, right and centre. Unfortunately not. The wheels have fallen off that wagon for a few days as I have hit the wall that is Action Script 3 and it not doing what I want it to. Nor does it help that I don't know any code, or know what the code can do, so I can't sit at it and work through everything cos I have nothing to start with!!

So, being the intuitive students I'm meant to be, I've turned my attention to the actual contents of the 3 interactive pieces. (This is one noticeable change that I can acknowledge between Narratives and Identities, there is always something that I can be doing).

I've now written the coded message which hides the word associated with me. It took a few goes to try and get something that sounded alright, and not just a random offshoot from my imagination.

-I tried a character profile form, where it basically gave biog details, but I didn't like that. So then
-I tried making an obscure witness statement about a man whose actions aren't clear from the text, but he hints towards the mystery word. But alas, I wasn't feeling that either.
-So in the end, I went back to my former English ways and made a poem. It's not that bad, maybe a bit cliché, but it does represent another side of my identity - my way with words.

I’ve reason to stay, you may not know why,
I’ll stand by you friend, not have you cry.

The new, all inviting, may tempt some away,
But I am devoted, I’m here, I remain.

To boost every high, and replenish the lows,
Friends are forever, never more alone.

I’ll defend, I’ll challenge, any would be assaults,
Regardless of flaws, detriment or fault.

So I’ve got your back, no daggers from me,
The truth remains; this is what friendship should be.

Next, I got round to making my stop motion piece. Secretly, I hadn't been looking forward to it. Memories of 'killer shoes' brought back a sense of frustration, and wanting to bang your head on the desk cos it wouldn't sync with the music, or I the camera work was shaky etc etc. However, this time it took just over 2 hours to shoot and amassed 665 photos, almost double what I'd been anticipating.

Something was on my side this time cos there were no real glitches at all, apart from the macro on the lens not focusing enough on some of the very last shots for a close up. But all in all, it went pretty smoothly. The edit required a couple of seconds of footage to be sped up/slowed down, but the soundtrack I sliced and put together sounds good, it synced almost perfectly on it's own and so now I give you, the final product -



I've sent for help on the AS3 front courtesy of Amazon.co.uk, so in the next few days I'll hopefully have some good news to post.

But for now, chao.

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carbonmade - online portfolios

Courtesy of Phil Howlett's blog, I found out that you can get a makeshift portfolio online through a company called carbonmade.

The free account lets you upload and organise 35 photos into projects, so for now, it's not that bad a deal. Plus, you can alter the layout a little and pick from two colour schemes.

So, again, I'm giving the site a plug, so more of you can become aware of it.

Here's mine - ashleyelton.carbonmade.com



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showcase development

Wowser, what a busy few days its been. I came back from Easter with not that much in terms of part two completed work, but after ploughing out through I've now got quite a bit sorted.

To start off with, I went with the detective office. I tried the starry starry night scene, but felt that I couldn't really put that much into it. There was some nice grass, a picket fence and then the dark night sky.



On the other hand, the office let me get my teeth into it, and model quite a few thing, recalling skills Andy taught us about 2 months ago!

Last time, for Super Paper Mario World, I didn't have to worry too much about lighting, as games of that style are all brightly lit. This time though, the lighting was essential for capturing the type of picture I had in my head. So after much playing about, I managed to get the desk top lamp to shine onto the desk, meanwhile, the blinds in the window cast shadows onto the wall - that shady, dim look being what I wanted.



The next issue was getting the right frame for the image. I tried a dark photo frame, an old aged piece of paper, and thought 'mmmm it's ok', then came up with the idea of a manila folder theme and the 'confidential' red stamp look. That way, I can also use tabs for the navigation - something that Internet Explorer 7 users are now really familiar with.



Of all the analysis I've done so far, I always comment that jazzy navigation schemes that for go the traditional nav bar may risk losing an older generation of viewers. So by using a home tab I can attempt to please both demographs. It could even be extended so that all the links are available in tabs, as websites do do this - possible improvement idea.

Once I started making the buttons in Flash, there were all sort of problems revolving around size and quality after compression. Plus, I had to choose the 'over' and 'down' states, as from my web analysis, being able to locate a button and also, it looking right with the overall theme, is important.




Of the two above, I decided eventually to go with the dotty one. I thought the line look made it look a bit amateurish, OK I'm not that much of a pro, but still, when you see it in the whole frame, I think they look better.

In a seperate part of the showcase, for my gadget glasses, I am including the AVIs of my favourite TV shows. The buttons here, I decided to design quite like that used by the very popular BBC iPlayer. Instead of just a contrasting coloured border, they use a illuminated gradient fill.



I do have concerns over whether this is in keeping with the overall design theme, but it is only a very minute part, and I do think that the gadget glasses are quite modern, and flashy, so why not have buttons the same?!

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I've also added motion to my logo along with audio. I got my inspiration through a combination of the new BBC one ident, with the swirling circle and then also the colours from the Wii adverts.




(11 secs in)

So here's my ae motion piece:


That's pretty much all for now, I've got the pixilation to do soon, and I meet that with a feel of fear and apprehension - it is a very long process and can get complicated. But to make what I want, it's a must, so gotta do it!

Adios,

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Let Your Worries Go - online web analysis

It's been a while since my last post, but we're all back at uni now, so it's time to get my butt back into gear and plough on. There's a lot to do... here's hoping I don't have a mental breakdown when Flash won't play nicely!!

One of the ideas I pitched for the part two showcase was a night sky over a landscape. This site which I found today, by Northwest Mutual, I think pretty much nails what I had thought up. If I could pull it off, it would be AMAZING.

You are given a free roaming, horizontal landscape. It all looks very picturesque, and colourful. There is an evident depth to the image, making it seem more realistic, and not just a flat image. The detail, even in things like the grass is what caught my eye. Overall, it just builds up a very nicely crafted piece. The precision to detail is right, the colours are right, the images are right and in keeping with the design.

Placing the mouse towards the extremities of the picture slowly pans the viewpoint across. To me, this was all very natural and intuitive. Regardless of where you are, a few lines of text hover in the centre of the picture, which provide you options.

Firstly, you select what sort of vehicle you want to use, to 'let yourself go'. Options include a catapult, rocket, hot airballoon and submarine. Choosing one of the options from the drop down means the camera pans instantly to that location on the horizontal plane.

You then have the choice of what type of topic you wish to deal with. You can either choose this from the next drop down menu, or click and drag the respective character who appear at the bottom of the screen. Doing so is quite fun, as the person follows your mouse, and flails and flops their arms and legs all over the place until you drop them into the vehicle.

You then get a launch button, which on pressing, launches a little animation of the button being pressed, or a level being pulled and it cuts to an impressive render of your chosen form of transport blasting off, or submerging.

Finally, the real purpose of the site is revealed, you are presented with the 'business' side. The company are trying to sell you a product/service related to their bank/building/insurance services. So, from there, you are provided options which link to the main official company site.

Northwest Mutual have gone about selling their product in quite a different way in this promotional piece. When considering the relevabce, instead of just saying, save for retirement, here are our policies, they have gone about it in a more emotive, personable manner - are you worried about retirement funds -> blast them away -> here's the policy to do it. It sort of disguises the fact that they are trying to sell you something! I like this spin they have put on it to sell their product.

However not all is perfect. The last page of letyourselfgo.com, to me, was quite overpowering in information, compared to the calmness and spaciousness of the previous screens. It isn't that well laid out either, seeming sort of cluttered in the centre.

You get a statistics table telling you the %s that have the same 'worries' as yourself. But the main get me to the site to buy it links aren't that clearly set out. They tell of what you need, but not in a way that works 100% efficiently on the eye, which is a shame.

Navigation wise, the selection process is how you make your way through the site. You don't even get a traditional bar displaying navigation options, apart from legalities that must be shown. Again, I've commented on it before, this could make or break a site. Certainly for younger, more entertainable market, the site is fine, in fact it's fun and interesting. This method may actually be their means of attracting a younger market, trying to seek them out. However, for an older user, this site may seem a gimmic, and become irritating by not being able to access the information without waiting for loading screens and aniamtions so on.

In terms of the interaction elements, I am impressed. It doesn't do anything that hasn't been seen before, but the overall semblance of it all, is what I liked: the side scrolling, free nature of it, in particular. It looks nice also, the detail in the blades of grass, the depth portrayed by the layering.

This has presented me with a difficulty now. I was planning on going down the detective route and using a 3d rendered office piece inside a frame. Now though, this site has shown me that the star constellations idea could be technically savvy and look good too. Hmm.... dilemma...

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