Sk-etchbook

I started out the process by viewing current Flash websites and applications, noting down what I liked, disliked or found interesting about them. I had previously read through the brief and the fables, mentally considering the characters, scenes and props contained within each story. In doing this I had already thought of some initial ideas on how the stories could be told (possibly giving the user the option to see the story told from all the different sides eg. Boy, wolf, sheep or playing out the story as one of the characters rpg style). At this point I decided not to pick which fable to animate rather to leave it open until I had generated a few more ideas and give me more chance of developing and original concept & approach to interactivity.

An article I had read last month was my first port of call, this contained a list of what was considered to be the best top 20 websites of all time by The FWA and some by public vote too. Here are my comments and thoughts about the ones which grabbed my attention (see previous blog for full URL’s).

NRG – This was one of the first sites to effectively use shape tweening. I like the style of this site, the graphics are not over complicated but remain appealing and the interactivity flows logically. I feel I could achieve something in this style.

PDK – love the illustrations on this site, the hand drawn, comic look makes the website feel more artistic for some reason. There are good interactive elements incorporated while the navigational elements look more traditional. A nice example of how animation and interactivity can be used to enhance rather than replace static content.

Philips – a decent combination of video and interactive animation. Reliable technique using familiar objects ie. a leaflet that the user is already familiar with and applying multimedia to simulate real life human interaction. By doing this the site instantly becomes more user friendly to the majority of users (usually the users living in the western world or developed countries).

Red Universe – wow! This isn’t a website it’s second life. Incredible design and interactivity, this is definitely more of an environment then a website. You can control the characters, chat with other users, walk or even fly around plus pretty nifty navigation. Impressive amount of interactive content and even more impressively the way all this is incorporated with out loosing any usability or inadvertently concealing the sites informal purpose. Beautiful artwork too.

Tokyo Plastic – am loving this site, I’m a bit of a magpie when it comes to the red/white/black combination anyway but this site’s also got some lovely design. There seems to be loads happening whilst somehow retaining a minimal feel? It’s also got a twist of oddness which is always a bonus ;o)

To be continued…