In this great gaping gap that they call the summer holidays, I've been working for Setanta Sports and whilst browsing their site, came across this which reminded me of Flash.
I like how they've managed to accomplish the page turn effect. It works and represents reality digitally. Also, the click to zoom and then grab to move is well implemented. Again, it's what you want to do - look closer, and all over.
I think the format, which has been called an 'e-zine', has the potential to become quite popular. Whilst being able to make it look as decent as a normal magazine, with large detailed images/graphics, you also have the perks of Flash embedded - motion and catchy visual effects - drawing in your eye. Furthermore, as with all things web, it hyperlinks (whether that be nestled within an advert, or a table which links to the Setanta fixtures page). These work because they are placed logically, and it seems quite natural to click and find out more, for example, when reading a certain article you want more information about. One definite bonus I can see is that in magazines you can only print on the page size you have, whether that be A4, A5 etc. With e-zines, you can hide pictures, text etc behind a button, which only upon clicking, exchanges and brings up the information on the mag page.
Perhaps I should ask for some work experience in the media department?! If this sort of stuff is what somebody does for a living then I'd be quite happy to join in and earn this way too!
It's been a while here in blogger ville, but I've been keeping busy working and doing a little work exp. The thing I wanted to show today is pretty cool, I think you'll agree.
This person on Flickr has over a hundred images 'taken with a special flash unit that uses a high voltage arc in air as the light source. The flash of light lasts only 500 nanoseconds!' Everyday things are caught mid-event and is certainly an example of using technology to your advantage, good effect too!
I can't remember how I came across this, but on having a browse I found it and think it to be of worth. Kind of in the style of the FWA, this feature showcases a range of FLASH templates.OK, they aren't free (or at least the ones I looked at weren't) but the examples could give you visual stimulus in regards to the composition of a design?
I think my favourite one is the one at the top of the article (the black and white one) it is very striking (taking up the entire page and using the strongest contrast in colours there is - black and white (or is that really grey?), it looks edgy (kudos to the cool typeface used in the background for this example) and generally bodes well on the eyes (what with the various sections of the letters all creating visual interest for the thumbnails, however this would obviously change when you inserted your own photographs).
SO, if you browse the web just to look at what looks people have put together, here is another dearth of quality examples to peruse!
I've just seen a really cool advert that I thought I'd mention, and for the sake of this, ditch all prejudices/conceptions about Ministry of Sound and their affiliated connotations.Forget the brand altogether!
What caught my eye firstly were the neon/fluorescent colours. Add in the hip, hop and happening music, with some cool street dancing and you've got yourself a very Britain's Got Talent winner mixed with Itunes ad inspired piece. And we all how well those ventures have gone (hint#1 & hint#2: 11 million viewers and 1.5 billion songs as of financial year end 2007.)
The motion graphics which take the form of onion skinning with the colours briefly displaying the past movement of the dancer (ok, a little extra emphasised too) and then the paint making patterns, eye catching ones at that too. For me, the flow of colours are attractive, move very nicely and really make the piece, they have an almost drug-fuelled spectaclular visionary effect (not that I know what such a vision would be like!) Think of what it would be like without the m/g - "just" dancing. :P
When I see something like this, my main thought is did the designer have to actually sit frame by frame and get the shape to follow the pattern of the body, how long did it take to sit and make that? Although an excrutiatingly slow process, if that's what it takes to make something of quality, then obviously you do it. It's worth it. Oh, and you get paid a nice sum too!
So I thought I'd just bring to your attention the ad, it certainly seemed different (in quality, direction) from similar adverts that include graphic effects that in fact, aren't really that good in what they're doing. I know I'd certainly love to get a grip on how to make something like the MoS motion graphics. I think I'll be waiting a few more years though!
If for ten mins you can hide your shame and listen to a Radio 4 piece, it informs on the new technologies the web will be heading towards in the future, called the semantic web.
It seems to revolve around a more database type structure, being able to simulataneously call upon and then report all sorts of things at the end of one search.
An example I can think of this being useful as, is when you book a holiday. Not only do you get your holiday booking confirmation, but the semantic web would bring up currency rates to purchase your currency, weather forecasts, and then also photographs from people's online holiday albums, without you having to manually input search details for these. Multi-faceted results is what I'd call it, they say 'linked open data'.
Obviously with every up there must come some downs and I do start to think that computers could become too knowing when they are doing this all for us. They'd know where we were going on holiday and subsequently when we wouldn't be at home, they might be able to track how much we converted to Euros, see your family photographs... (they I mean as being the person/people who have access to all the search results data). Whatever next? Computers running your life for you?! They're not really that far off if we take Ironman to be the glassball view of the future. lol
What with all the free time the summer holidays offers, I've taken on a little work project. Family and friends seem to love the idea that they can have something online all about them (surplus to Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, MSN!), so I'm currently in the midst of making a site for a 'Garden Lifestyle Planner' LINK
*UPDATE*For some reason, Internet Explorer 7 lowers the frame rate that you view a SWF at, so for the best results, use Firefox 3 with it's unlimited fps. Obviously I'll need to try and fix this for future use. *
First and foremost, it's going well. I think (&hope) that straight away you'll be able to notice the difference (&I hope quality) over other typical builder/landscaper sites you can find online. With FLASH being my new favourite program I've gone that way again. The motion opportunities and action scripting put it on another level to HTML, a fully rich media content opportunity (although I am aware that currently only 98% have Flash player installed in their web browsers, thats only 98%!!)
The first problem I found was that I couldn't think of how to make it look. I knew the basis of the look I was going for, from thissite I'd mentioned before, which was a really good form of inspiration. The idea of a garden planner obviously has connotations with nature, so that's where I made the connection, but then thought I could usefully apply the other 'textures/objects' of a garden designer, for instance, bricks and tiles for backgrounds.
I sat for hours trying little things out for the main page, but nothing worked. I'll admit it was frustrating! I can always visualise something really nice in my head, the images, typeface, layout etc, but then try and put that into a digital construct and it doesn't work. History repeated itself again. Normally because of the obtaining of my pre conceived images, and then the legal requirement of payment for use afterwards (which you can in an company environment), I can't go through with such an idea!
The main components for the homepage I was working around with were synthetic: the grass I rendered in Blender, the sky used a gradient fill effect and they went together, it looked quite lush. Try applying a photo of something garden-y on top that I'd taken and it stuck out like a sore thumb (the contrast on the edge of the photo jarred with the background). The solution: get the digital rubber (because the magic wand utensil proved useless!) and remove all additional traces which you don't want. Timely, yes, but worth it, in the end.
At this stage in time, I have installed all the background work, and the transitionary motion pieces. From here on in, the contents of the site are easy to implement: the textual information, thumbnails and sized images, and possibly a contact form (OK, that might be not so simple!) I'm also pondering adding an Expedia type cloud that floats nicely in the background on the homepage? lol
Studying Multimedia at NTU, this blog showcases both the theoretical and practical sides of what I produce.
Things of interest out there on the world wide web sometimes get a mention too!
