Re: FLASH: OT "a cancer on the web called flash" (was:Barneys.com)

[Michael Dunn]

on 6/2/00 5.50a, jason stanley wrote:


> 

> forgive me if this has been posted here already, i haven't been paying

> attention...

> 

> http://www.flazoom.com/news.shtml


Well, this is what I've been worried about. When I first started using

Flash, I thought "Wow, all the neat things I can do without learning to code

in Javascript!" Then, realizing that HTML isn't as hard as I thought (and

finally digging into Dreamweaver) I'm now going back through my website and

redesigning it using a mixture of HTML and Flash (and Javascript). Sites

that can use both seamlessly, knowing when to use which technology, show

much more sophisticated use of the medium - not to mention a broader

knowledge base. Not knocking anyone's site. I think Praystation kicks butt.

There are so many cool things there, thought-provoking and fun to look at.

But it's for a specific audience. If John Doe from Anytown, USA went there,

they'd be lost. I think there are definite uses for the whiz-bang stuff,

but, coming from a print background, you don't use die-cuts, foils, metallic

inks, spot colors, varnishes, embosses, and all the other tricks of the

trade on one piece just because you can. They just become noise that

clutters the message. This is why so many people want to know where the

CONTENT is. Recently the magazine "Real Simple" underwent a restructuring of

personnel and focus because it was too elegant. Hard to imagine something as

being too nice, huh? But it had all these nice big pictures with little

blurbs of copy and its target audience was middle-age mothers. Even the

advertising was skewed to a different market. It wasn't working, so it was

resructured, putting the audience first, where it should be.


Well, this is very long, and starting to get off topic even more than

before. When I first posted the Barneys.com  message, I was hoping to get

the feedback of designers and developers. While almost everyone commends the

technology behind the site, most are asking "Why?" That's something I think

we should ask ourselves before sitting down to design. The problem with

"soloists" as opposed to "orchestra musicians" is that there's no one to

bounce ideas off of. At the agency where I work, we've got 3 copywriters, 2

senior art directors, 1 art director, me (designer) and a production crew.

That 7+ people who can come up with ideas, bounce them off each other,

brainstorm, trouble shoot, etc. Before the client ever sees anything. And

that kind of teamwork will beat the "hotshots" any day.


way more than my 2 cents,

Michael



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