Archive for the ‘Web’ Category
EMC xCP Documentum October 26th, 2010
www.emc.com/xcp
Another dry spell there, I really need to get back in the posting habit. Maybe with the evenings drawing in it’ll be easier. Anyway, here’s something new – A Flash micro site to promote EMC’s xCP Documentum software. The site is built for Flash player 9.0 and is coded in Actionscript 3.0.
There’s all sorts of delights going on in the background and this was a great site to do to get my Flash skills back up to scratch – the content is all driven by an XML back end, from links and assets (images, videos etc.), to the site copy. This meant all the content areas and buttons had to be expandable (to a point at least, I could only be as flexible as the design). This also meant that the language of the site could be easily changed allowing for roll out in multiple countries. By setting a language variable in the XML the flash movie will dynamically load in and embed the correct font and character set (using a class written by my predecessor at The Crocodile).
The site also uses the excellent SWFAddress JavaScript library by Asual to control deep linking meaning all sections of the site can be externally linked to and the browser navigation can be used.
Finally the ‘Solutions’ section has a cover flow system created with Papervision3D.
This was a pretty hardcore re-introduction to Flash after a long absence but it was kind of fun to build and really allowed me to expand my Flash skills so all well worthwhile.
Hopefully the next Scriptic installment will be something downloadable and scripty as I only seem to post websites these days. Untill then bye bye!
Mayday Network site launch April 19th, 2010
www.maydaynetwork.com
This week, after a month of hard work, late nights and gnashing of teeth, The Mayday Network website finally went live. A social network aimed at businesses who want to reduce their carbon footprint and do other good environmentally things, the site is entirely built and updated in Drupal. The website was designed by Anywhichway and I was responsible for initial front end template build and subsequent Drupal theming.
The site, currently in phase 1, has member profiles, news feeds and events listings with member sign up functionality. It’s main draw at this stage is ‘The Journey’ a tool that helps guide members, step by step, through their own ‘low carbon journey’. Members are able to tick off steps as they go and periodically upload stories of their progress for other users to see.
A great deal was acheived in a short time here so well done to everyone involved and thanks for putting in the hours 
.
Viral revolution or webvomit? April 15th, 2010
Recently I’ve been coming across sites that utilise such hideous design and nightmarish HTML that i’ve felt compelled to bring them to the attention of a wider audience and, in many cases, that’s exactly what i’ve done.
Recently as I prepared to Tweet this gem – it occured to me that perhaps lurking behind this terrifyingly poorly executed facade is in fact an ingenious and fresh viral marketing idea. After all it only takes one smug, superior media type (i.e. me) to stumble across it and publish the link on some social network somewhere and bingo – instant traffic.
Of course there’s a danger, as in this instance, that you take the concept too far and all your content is hidden behind an impossible to navigate front end awash with random, blindingly garish links. Handled in the right way, however, this could be rather effective. Imagine a website which on first glance is pure HTML abortion, hideous enough to get an instant mention on media boards across the web, and yet on closer inspection incorporates a surprisingly intuitive navigation which in turn leads to well designed and structured content. Food for thought my friends, perhaps we are witnessing the birth of a new viral phenomenon – one that will eventually result in a mass turnaround in the way we design and build websites. Retro web design – God forbid!
Anyway, sorry for the almost actual blog like nature of this post. Back to standard postings next time. In the meantime here’s another one for you to point and laugh at. Look at his ponytail – LOL!
