Looks like Flash plugin requirement, or Realvideo player plugin may soon be a thing of the past. Firefox 3.5 features open video support in the browser.
If they were able to implement Flash player plug in, i.e. for SWFs, then the worry of needing to provide alternate content would slowly but surely reduce. However, Firefox 3.5 is the only browser to date to do this. It could take a while to get rid of old, out dated, but still massively used browsers.
In a time when we want more minimal design but then also more information, it's difficult to find a way to manage both. Fortunately, there is at least one solution.
I like this, and think some of my peers (Jackie and Sarah already thought up the idea and employed it on their Goldfactory design) are really on the ball. - Adds another layer to usability but also desirability of the design.
The problem with Windows is that once you update to a newer version of IE, you cannot them officially return and install a previous format.
Enter browsershots.org which has been going for a while, but allows you to test your site in all it's "glory" or most likely not, in IE6, 7, 8, plus Chrome, Firefox, Opea, on Mac, on Linux. Really there are loads of options.
Furthermore, you can define the size width of the intended user, along with whether Flash should be switched on, scripts too.
Bestwood now displays perfectly in all the major browsers.
IE6 (with PNG fix and double margin float rectified)
The website is getting close to completion now. I've made my interactive piece - the Bestwood timeline which hopefully will provide a more interesting point of information for younger viewers.
On this occasion it was the aesthetics that I had trouble with more than the actual Flash coding.
Using the Cadbury World experience as my inspiration (a great vibrant piece that will surely attract younger viewers) I tried out some layouts for the timeline.
This first one was a little too rigid. It appears a little dull.
This second one has more visual interest due to the bendy nature of the lines however I feared it may be too over the top?
I arrived at a compromise between the two, it has the curvy lines, but then I tiled it too with a slate wall image. At this stage, I still wasn't entirely satisfied however. It seemed to be a little bland.
I went into Photoshop and added smudges, and dirty marks so that the coal mine theme was more evident.
When it came to the Flash motion, I wanted to make it roll over, roll out and have jazzy effects popping up. I thought a good tie in with the rest of the site would be to use a glow effect in the colours that the Bestwood site uses. This was all achievable through setting up functions that detected when the mouse hovered and also whether a rewind action was in use.
Something of importance was making the text legible. We intend to repeat the information below this Flash piece for those who do not have the Flash plug-in and so I decided to go for a slightly jazzier font too. After several attempts at various sizes I decided upon Market Deco. It has a classy look but also a dated feel, again fitting in with the mining theme.
To sum up, I feel the mining piece has gone well. I particularly like the animations that appear - they are snappy, contrast against the white background and should attract the user's attention. The text information is short and to the point and the icons help visualise the information. A younger user should find this a more pleasant way of finding out information.
In amongst doing coursework I've managed to get a few more extra work projects completed. The one that I've launched online recently is Letters from a WW1 soldier.
Using a Flash interface to better provide for the image based scene, this work project really called on image manipulation and optimisation skills.
This was the starting photograph I was provided with. From here I managed to create a scene full of various WW1 artefacts that all link back to the main topic of war time history, but obviously personal to family.
When you compare this to otherefforts (admittedly, popular sites) regarding war topics, I think this stands out through it's visual staging, rather than lines of written text. Furthermore, with it being image based it could appeal a little more to a younger audience, I know I certaintly prefer it - it's real history you can see, not just words on a page.
I've even had to add in an email since due to the unexpected hits its been getting, London, Sheffield etc.
Having seen this a few times I didn't pay attention to what Ford were doing.
Discreetly shown at the start of the advert we are asked to find 80 KAs within the 40 second clip. Now, importantly, this isn't achievable whilst watching on the TV, it is over too quick and in the 40 second ad, that would mean 2 every second. Ford must be aiming this at others then... youtube fans is my guess.
By taking the time to rewind and search and then rewind and search some more in all this means that the user will be spending more and more time looking at their product. It's a clever marketing spin.
Admittedly there is the downside that you may become frustrated looking and this negativity seeps through to your feelings for the company.
Nonetheless, I think it's a clever scheme which although advertised on the TV, unless you really want to Sky+ it, is for users like us, online. We all love Where's Wally? and I feel this too is an ad campaign that is successful through its inventiveness.
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!
