In my last post, I reviewed the code architecture of my playground site. In this post, I’ll explain its design.
I fear that the site will have all the charm of exposed pipe for the average Flash designer. My fear is based partly on my primitive graphic-design skills, but mostly on the unusual nature of […]

In a tree of modules, some modules will need to load assets when selected…and some will themselves need to be loaded.

I resent Jakob Nielsen because he is always right, and that is the worst, most infuriating habit.
Take a look at his latest directive at webmonkey. Or just peruse this summary (quoted from the article) of his current complaints about web pages:
* Links that don’t change color when visited
* Breaking the back button
* Opening new browser […]

Last week I used Flickr for the first time (obviously I follow the trends rather than make them).
What a design!…fast, easy, imparting a brimming sense of possibilities while remaining clear and directed. Really, it’s delicious.
So being a partisan I immediately wondered why it wasn’t done in Flash. Apparently, it was, originally. Here’s an interview with […]

Flash can do at least 2 things better than HTML: 1) create interactive experiences, and 2) create moving pictures (tweens, animations, video).
That's great. Now let me point out that Flash's two great powers are more than not antagonists, and their clash distorts and cripples many a swf.
The example of 1st-person shooters is misleading here, because […]

There are many details that grate on me: the slow drop down menus, the ugly gray gradient background, the pictures with people wearing sunglasses that I can barely see, the labels that use all caps, the small, blurry font, the lack of a true home page (just a splash-page picture of a girl with wild […]

I was trying to explain to my skeptical sister-in-law why I quit my proofreading job and started up with Flash.
When I explained Flash to her, she said: "Have you seen the Ray-Ban site?" Then she groaned and made quick, couple-ish eye-contact with my brother, as in "What silliness is your brother up to now"?
Later I […]

Most transitions should be handled in Flash without animation, because most transitions are driven by perusals and not commitments, and for perusals, animation is laborious.
Let's say I'm mousing over a menu; why not have text or images come up immediately, on rollover? If your design is logical (where does the material come up?) and your […]

Until I looked at Flex this weekend, I didn't believe Jesse Warden when he predicted that Flex would retire Flash into a Director-like, niche position.
Well, now I believe. And I feel a pang for Flash. Not because I give a damn about the technology–there will always be another technology–but because I hoped […]