mug
polish company who specialise in animation and interaction. prime example of over snazified website. The download progression is shown really well

Tenfold
an excellent example of simplistic design at its best. I really like the wa the background colour changes everytime you change the page. Use of consistent layout and fonts, keeps you aware you are onthe same site but it adds a sense of play so an otherwise plain site design.

Glug Nottingham

I have just been to Brownes for the event that is Glug and am so excited that I have to blog straight away. I went with Ed Christie who through a very random occurrence knew Tim, one of the filmmakers there. This allowed us to jump straight in rather than wait around and nervously approach a group like a predator that should be on prozac. Tim was with 2 others; Richard: an Editor and Ella:the organiser of the event and creative manager. In our short time there we spoke about their job roles and had a really nice chat with them all and are hoping to see them again at the next Glug in January.

This experience has really opened my eyes to how important networking is and especially In the art world. Before I have found myself lost, and extremely nervous about where to begin but I can really see how experiences like this one could potentially open up a entire realm of possibilities and provide a door into the creative industry.

Glug is especially good as it provides the time, place and people. Not only that but the opportunity to be a bit tipsy and swallow any nerves that might arise. I know I felt quite nervous!

Oliver Beaudoin I ♥ U

I love this!!!
Its so simple but so cool! and the music is funky too. Its got me really excited about doing more animation. It reminds me of an animation I did for my Foundation year with the limited colours and silhouette style but obviously his executed with much more sophistication.

Other youtube Gems

Grocery Shop Boyz

One idea I had was to create a Fruitmachine type interaction. This would act as the 'animated introductory section' that we were required to create. It would allow the user to stop and start the tweened animation by simply clicking the stage and also have a 'skip' button as required.


Another idea was to create a little car that would drive to 'The Grocery Boyz' shop. This would be in a similar 2D stlye of the image below.

For the main site i had a few ideas. I originally thought of this theme....but after a brain storming session I came up with some improved ideas. One I had was to simply use images like the ones below as the background. These would be different on each page and there would be a white area for the content.

However, my preferred idea was to use a trolley. The links would run along the handle while there would be the logo on the front of the trolley where they often put advertisements. This would link well to either of my ideas for the 'animated introductory section and could incorporate a photographic or illustrative style.

While searching google for inspiration; I came across this image.

Its from this site http://www.trolleywobble.com/trolley.htm. I like this mainly because of its simplicity. Its aesthetically pleasing and quite quirky.



I also found this...

Its quite irrelevant but its very impressive. Its by Ptolemy Elrington is made from a rescued supermarket trolley. He has made a whole range of these on the theme of the riverbed where the trolleys are rescued from.

and this by Brendan Jamison, made from coloured wax. He also has a series of these ranging from JCB buckets to helicopters. Other mediums he works in are sugar cubes, wool and the more traditional:bronze.

again this is quite irrelivant but tangents are always good!!


flash tutorial

I wanted to create a simple but novel way of navigating through my Cake site so i thought i would do some research. When doing a google search for 'quirky websites' i came across this site by david blesser. It allows the user to control the aanimation below by using the keyboard and in turn creating a variation on the dance. Each image is assigned a key and when pressed displays the image. Although this is quite irrelvant to what I am doing it made me chuckle and so I thought I would share.

Recipes Page

These images show a few variations to my recipe page. The little cup cakes are going to reveal the links destination, just like the 'home' animation I posted in 'SoFar...'.

This first blue image is the winner I think. The cupcakes being on the side indicates they have a function as it relates quite closely to the users expectations.

I do quite like the style of these pages, although I am conscious they are looking like the illustrations in a Jacqueline Wilson book!

Bannerblog

I searched Bannerblog after Shaun mentioned it in one of this weeks lectures and came across this interactive banner advertising a Charity fighting against HIV in Africa. I think this banner is great, it not only illustrates how easily and rapidly the disease spreads but also informs the audience of the relevant information with very few words. the only negative i would say this banner has, is that you have to interact for quite some time before the purpose is revealed. I think it would improved by having a time delay triggered by the intial interaction.

Salvador Dali- Metamorphis of Narcissus

This painting is currently at the Tate Modern in London. I have visited on a number of occasions and dispite it being one of the smallest in the gallery, I am drawn to this painting every time. I am a real fan of Surrealism and in particular Salvador Dalí because of the sheer talent that he and many other surrealists had.T he concept of Surrealism is to make fictional subject matter beliveable. It should provoke curiosity and a true surrealist image should be flawless. This image along with countless others by Dali, achieve this aim. The detail is extraordinary, and dispite getting as close as you can to it you cannot see any brush strokes or imperfections. This image really doesn't do it justice.

SO FAR....

Preloader...
Here are a few versions of preloader. I wanted to keep to a simplistic design but I'm not 100% on what one I will use. I prefer the first and third one, but after asking the opinion of a few of my friends I think I will keep an open mind...



Logo
I did this when I was just playing around in Illustrator. It was a bit of an accident as I was trying to achieve a 'neon sign' look, (because a black background is more energy efficient -blackle.) but I really quite like the simpler, illustrative look.





Home
This will count as one of my interactive elements. When the user hovers over the cupcake, this movie will play allowing clear navigation to the other pages on the site. As the function is hidden, I will keep to the standard website layout and have these on the left hand side. This way the user will not have to spend time searching for the links.










I took these photos with the intention of cropping them into thin strips a using them as backgrounds or separators. Now that I have changed the 'look' I was going for I'm not sure if I will use them...

Fireworks Banner

We were asked to create a flash banner promoting firework safety that appeals to all ages. This should aim particularly to families and incorporate inteactive elements.

Links to firework safety advice
fireservice
saferfireworks
fireworksafety
rospa
berr
fire

Resources
Rhyme and history of Guy Fawkes
Flash Tutorials

Who will the audience be?
The audience is anyone of any age although we were asked to create a design that would appeal especially to families, although personally I think the people that need to be educated on the topic of firework safety are teens.

What message needs to be communicated?
That fireworks are potentially dangerous in the wrong hands and you can still have enjoy fireworks while being safe.

How will FLASH appeal to the intended audience?
FLASH elements attract the audiences attention by allowing them to interact. This encourages the user pay attention to the message that is trying to be passed on.

What are your designs for the visual appearence?

How will the interaction work?

Does the interaction increase the ability to communicate the intended message, how?