Bibliography for Concept Proposal and Contextual Analysis

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html
http://www.flashmagazine.com/413.htm
http://www.actapress.com/PaperInfo.aspx?PaperID=30039
http://www.saintsandsoldiers.com/Flash/
http://www.rss-specifications.com/history-rss.htm
http://www.blockstar.com/blog/blog_timeline.html
http://www.adobe.com/macromedia/events/john_gay/page04.html
http://www.w3.org/Style/LieBos2e/history/
http://virtuelvis.com/archives/2005/01/css-history
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/
http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menu/streaker
http://www.w3.org/QA/2002/04/Web-Quality
http://icant.co.uk/webstandardsforbusiness/pmwiki.php/Main/Arguments
http://www.littledeviant.com/
http://2advanced.com/
http://www.webleeddesign.com/#toplist
http://www.flashsourcecode.com/sourcecode.html
http://sprawsm.com/
http://infosthetics.com/archives/infographic/
http://motionographer.com/2006/07/
http://zoomquilt2.madmindworx.com/
http://www.scifi.com/tinman/oz/

misc images

www/pcworld.idg.com.au
mactec.com
previsualsdesign.com

- Contextual Analysis -

The internet is a medium that is fast finding itself being filtered into numerous forms. Interacting with the internet is constantly being streamlined with such developments as Flash over the past decade and PHP scripting. This has allowed surfers to browse and interact with the web in more refined ways. It’s become an organism of free flowing information with each site acting as a shelf upon which people unload/upload their content. With all this information, presenting it in an appealing form is a challenge. The overall relevance of making your information appear more important is essential in reaching the masses. The internet is a growing medium therefore people are becoming much more accustomed to it. What is then required is a standard level expected by users which has been continuously raised due to innovative web design and commercial web standards. The mainstream media is that which requires polish, as its centred around audience attraction and therefore generally the pioneer in creating slick and sophisticated websites. Other than within the mainstream circles websites are redesigned and developed to help produce fresh user experiences. Essentially these are efforts to help present information in a much more attractive form. The ways in which this has been achieved has changed over the years with Netscape playing a key role in its development. During the mid to late 90s JavaScript and the introduction of applets helped provide the user with more functions that can be utilised on the web thus making the web itself more versatile. This helped in increasing net security and helped expand the web into more mediums. But one of the greatest contributions to the web was Flash and its initial presence on the web was nought due to the fact that the original blueprint for Flash was a software called FutureSplash Animator an offline program designed for animation purposes. What is important that it was spawned from the desire of its creator, Jonathan Gay, to create a software that would ease human to computer interfacing with the introduction of SmartSketch, the previous name of the FutureSplash program. The mid 90’s saw the Internet's awareness increase, and with this knowledge the software was developed to be able to adapt this into exporting animations for playback on the web. After an affiliation with Disney Online and several pitches later the small company (FutureWave Software) was picked up and the software obtained by Disney’s affiliates Macromedia to produce Flash 1.0 in the December of ‘96. From this point Flash would become the dominant force in online animation, overshadowing the slower Java applications. Flash and Flash Player today stand as the primary tool for online media now as it now overtakes previous streaming media such as Quicktime and Windows media as a video media preference. Flash as a website construction tool has yet to be beaten in presenting slick visuals and interesting interfaces for easy to implement websites. Although it is still rivalled by its predecessor CSS which has progressed further than style tags into a presentation quality that rivals Flash.

These efforts to push web media is all for the benefit of the user, and with presentation standards apparently improving in many mediums it is understandable that the web is as popular as it is. This ties into what my project is fundamentally centred around. User stimulus is now much more than it once was as the net is a multimedia platform therefore the user expects more than just a textual directory of contents when visiting a page. As expressed through the work of Edward Tufte, visualising information spans into numerous forms, from colours to movement, shapes and clarity. Information hasn’t only evolved but become clearer, better presented and understood much more thoroughly due to attention spent on how its communicated. Visualising information has become a style in itself, with modern media visual styles demonstrating this. Such ‘infographics’ and animation are gradually becoming an art form that help emphasise the fact that what is being presented is information. This is an underlying factor as today’s society is much more well informed, with a large part of this being due to the web. Free flowing information for the user to explore and discover is part of the web experience and this is made easier by a clear set of directions. Hence interfaces and navigation systems on websites are an essential element of the web and with users being apparently quick in their visits depending on interest, the issue of attraction and almost seduction of a user is vital. By dressing up the information a user can be seduced into interacting with a website even if the content is of very little interest. This is a marketing tool evident in mainstream media to help sell a product, but it is essential and thus deserves attention. With such issues as a user’s attention span on a page being limited my project finds relevance, as by creating an interface so enticing in a universal manner I hope to hit on that which is attempted to be achieved by numerous website designers and focus on the fundamentals of design that may not be as seriously considered as they should be. To each page a user visits they should be engrossed and/or captivated with practicality also at the forefront of importance. Design and content are meeting well in some circles but there are numerous examples where one overshadows the other and the user is overwhelmed. This project should be the start of a design standard that is already in place but should be evaluated to be as effective as possible taking into account certain design principles. The standards in place monitored by such groups as the W3C, are important however the abuse of such web standards help pioneer novelty that help produce fresh ideas for user interfaces.

My project is aimed to essentially help to highlight the issues around web presentation and how a user is motivated to access a sites content. A site doesn’t have to be heavily graphical, or full of flash animations but it should be more than just an online word document. The internet hasn’t got an overall image as it is an ever changing mechanism, but it deserves a set of standards that will help designers and make the internet a more enjoyable and fulfilling experience for the people by realising a greater understanding of how to attract a them and maintain their attention.

- Concept Propsal -

The internet is an undeniably powerful multifaceted resource for information and media. The manner in which people interact with the internet has now become much more versatile as it has spread across platforms and mediums of access. During the course of my research I have delved into themes around internet interaction and site constructs that are being developed through such software as Flash.

My initial concept ideas prior to research were underdeveloped with a simple premise of creation as I am already aware of media platforms I can use on the web and was merely interested in creating a single media artefact with minimal purpose. However initial research caused me to begin forming developed concepts based upon areas of media that I was interested in and how it is related to the web medium.

My resulting concept is based on the areas of interest I had researched, which generally consists of motion graphics on the web, site authoring and layouts, and site navigation principles. Techniques explored during my research had led me to theorise several concept proposals. The main concept that had spawned from the research was based on site attraction, user engagement, and algorithmic navigation systems. The resulting concept is based on my theory of what and how a user is really engaged once they’re online, and what affects their attitude towards a site. This incorporates layout design, website aesthetics, and uniqueness, which all factor into how a user interacts and responds to a website. I had discovered that numerous websites have attempted to utilise multiple methods to appear novel, attractive yet relative to a theme, which are general design principles. This essentially is what I am going to attempt to achieve for my concept, which will essentially be an experiment in creating the most attractive and/or immersive site interface that I can, making it irresistible for a user to interact with. This will be a large feat to accomplish and will take into account the research into the various interfaces and styles I have explored.

Preproduction

Issues initially surrounding this concept include user preference and creation methods. In terms of user preference there are quite a few factors to incorporate that centre such design principles as clarity, theme, tone, and style. These are general terms that I must consider in depth and have to be evaluated when designing the interface.

Fundamentally the sites theme must be considered as a basis for the creation of the visual appearance and layout of the interface and therefore this must also consider user attraction. From my research I had found that the scfi.com’s Tin man site was a prime example upon which to base a large part of my design upon. As an example it demonstrates an initial immersive layout interface, even without movement. This triggered thoughts of the imagery used in the site that I have also seen in several other sites such as 2advanced.com and Ladio.ru. This imagery includes landscapes and in essence plays to the nature in which people surf the net, which are actions fuelled by exploration and discovery. An open landscape encourages thoughts of exploration and is accompanied with intrigue, an important factor to push when attempting to entice the user to interact with the interface. Depth perception is also tied into this theme causing the user to believe that there is more to the site that a flat interface. This is a general design method that I have seen utilised through my research, with sites using animation to aid this.

Mood and tone are encompassed into the theme but are to be considered with detail for this project and shall incorporate theories of ‘colour psychology’. In a similar manner into which an interior designer would consider the palette of colours for a house or particular room, I must consider the relation between colours, mood and affiliation. In addition depending upon style and theme decided upon, shapes and forms must also be considered with softer shapes and curves being much more ideal and how they can be combined with colours to help guide the user’s attention thus influencing their actions. This can be as simple as having the user’s attention divert towards a button, which can also be aided by animation. The overall mood and tone will help assist in creating a convincing and immersive theme for the interface.

Thus far focus on the aesthetics has been dominant, but isn’t fundamental as a website can be layered in highly detailed visuals or quirky animations but ultimately appearing cluttered and unrestrained. A heavy graphically laden site can be off putting and disproportionately divide the user’s attention around the page. Focal points are important on a site and this is generally achieved with clarity as my research has shown. In addition sites such as Tokyoplastic.com demonstrates this with its overall simplistic style incorporated into all their work the site is another example of capturing the user’s attention. A type of ergonomic like structure is also important in producing a comfortable interface with intuitive like controls being a preference. These are all factors I have been incorporating and will further evaluate into my interfaces design.

Methods

The ways in which I can create this interface are slightly limited in terms of creating an immersive and attractive layout for the user. CSS is an ideal form to author the interface but I feel as if it cant be as in depth and immersive in comparison to a Flash interface. However from my research such sites as Webleeddesign.com and CSSplay.co.uk have effectively demonstrated that CSS can hold up a novelty and visual flair flag up with Flash. Yet despite this, Flash is the ideal platform for my interface due to its flexibility and capabilities to achieve visual polish.

Therefore my initial research has been into techniques around Flash interface mechanics I believe are the most appealing and include the afore mentioned attributes I am attempting to achieve. The prime example of the Tin man site was developed using the Zoomquilt source code and was a major project therefore I feel it is impractical even though it is an open source code, this would take a large amount of deciphering and reverse engineering to re-design. However I can create a similarly immersive interface in Flash by utilising the technique known as parallax scrolling, which is a script action occasionally seen in some Flash sites. A prime example of which is the Saints and Soldiers site which shows this scripting in action. It provides the illusion of depth and comes close to the beauty and simplicity seen on the Tin man site.

The navigational system finds relevance within all of these areas of interest and is to be carefully designed. Another reason for the Tin man site to take precedent is its intuitive and simple navigation system that responds to the user’s awareness of its location, its neat and uncluttered incorporation into the design and its intuitive response to the user’s gestures with the mouse. For this project it’s essential that the full user experience with the interface is engrossing and overwhelmingly appealing.

The resulting artefact should be a prime example of a template upon which website interfaces can be based upon with simple but essential principles implemented in its design. This demonstrate a number of factors that should allow designers to consider much more when designing an interface for online use and thus help improve the internet experience.

Initial Research - "Areas of Interest"

For this project assignment there are several conceptual developments that I have derived from my research. As my project is not yet realised I can only provide examples of idea influencing material I have located on the web.

In my initial ideas I had thought of included storytelling on the web and via my research into motion graphics and Flash, I managed to find a site with a similar premise but which has also tied in a game mechanic into it. The little deviant website is promotional site for one of Toyota's car models well presented and visually engaging but lacks much purpose (most probably due to the story) and thus interactivity and further interest is lost. My concepts later developed with further research and analysis of websites and their constructs caused me to evaluate this for several ideas themed around interactivity. Websites that influenced this greatly were Tokyoplastic.com, Scifi.com's Tinman site, and Mathieu Badimon's site open source work. Each site is unique in their approach towards engaging the user with Mathieu Badimon's focus on technical studies of active/ real-time 3D visuals in particular.

Sites available at:

http://tokyoplastic.com/
http://www.scifi.com/tinman/oz/
http://lab.mathieu-badimon.com/
http://www.littledeviant.com/

Initial Research - Summary

The internet is the surmounting volumes of information that are attempted to be visualised for user interaction. The principles upon which these are based have evolved and been developed in numerous creative ways. In addition methods and practices utilised to produce website visuals has been reinvented and incorporated elements aiding in the webs cross platform media aesthetics. The result is a much more vibrant and visually stimulating experience that accompanied with well authored sites also includes improved interactivity. A sites purpose is now more than just providing the user with information but also maintaining their attention and stimulating interaction.

Initial Research - "In Context"

Website's have evolved quite rapidly with the aid of advancing technology and website authoring language that has developed over the past two decades. CSS in aiding its design has progressed since its introduction in the mid 90's and has continued in its development and implementation. Web standards are highlighted within a websites construct from forms of navigation and site structure to interest groups such as the W3C Quality Assurance Interest Group. To abide to such web standards highlighted by such interest groups are deemed as restrictive to some website developers at the design and scripting levels but are essentially important with such focus groups as the disabled, with the key words being 'accessibility' or 'compatibility'. However due to such abuse of standards, website interactivity alone has recently been pioneered into greater forms and the result is a plethora of sites boasting slick visuals or intuitive navigational systems or quirks.

Sites [online]:

http://www.w3.org/QA/
http://www.intensivstation.ch/en/css/history/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

Available at:

http://www.w3.org/QA/

http://www.intensivstation.ch/en/css/history/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

Initial Research - Non Flash "The Beauty of CSS"

Before Flash there was CSS, and there still is which is evident in the abundant number of CSS sites still being created with Flash being seen as a small and neat gallery slide show tool. Along with flash there are sites that showcase well designed CSS sites, and is apparent why CSS is still utilised. CSS can bare the same design quality of Flash with less focus on animation but however appear just as polished with enough pre-production visual work. Cssreboot.com, CSSbeauty.com and CSSleak.com are several examples of sites that help showcase some of the best in CSS design. CSS is as important now as it has ever been and is still the primary tool in website design. With the inclusion of RSS feeds and other external site tools coming into play within websites, CSS is the most compatible and fluid to incorporate this into.

Sites:

CSSReboot,Copyright © 2002 Affero Inc. CSSLeak, © 2004-2007 CSS Leak
CSS Beauty, © 2004-2007 CSS Beauty

Available at:

http://www.cssreboot.com/
http://www.cssleak.com/
http://www.cssbeauty.com/

[accessed 10th November 2007]

Inital Research - Non Flash "Designer Dreams"

In an ideal world scripting would be universally sound with compatibility barely being an issue. However as any html/css designer will know, that due to willingful abuse of web standards and non standard template designs that this is not achievable , at least not with ease. Flash is simple and runs as a program with the latest version simply being required for cross browser compatibility. Such is not the case in css and html as each browser abides to its own web standards and scripting interpretations. This creates difficulties in the scripting and design processes but is problem solved and in addition further interactive enhancing scripts are being created. On such site demonstrating this is designdetector.com which lists script experimented with that include graphical editing with css and php script thus involving more live server side alterations. Such experiments are evidence towards the fact that html and css designers are attempting to match the visual standards and interactivity set by Flash.

Designdetector.com site by Christopher Hester

Available at http://www.designdetector.com/

[accessed 9th November 2007]

Initial Research - Non Flash "We bleed design"

"Simple", would be a term to describe webleeddesign.com upon an initial glance, but a with this site its all in the presentation and the simple act of scrolling. With one of the most innovative pieces of simple design I've seen the portfolio site of Bryan Katzel is a prime example of a marraige of css and javascript that surmounts in a simple well presented website layout. The unique design of this site includes a continuous graphic element that appears to stream down through an obstacle like course when the user scrolls down. A clever piece of scripting gives the illusion of paint dripping down the site as you scroll leading the user through to areas of the site with the continuing intrigue of this graphical element keeping the users attention. This however does attract from the site's actual content but nevertheless enjoyable to use with the addition of links that auto scroll and slows to a stop at the relevant content. Beautiful simplicity can be achieved through clever scripting!

Webleeddesign.com [online] designed by Bryan Katzel

Available at: http://www.webleeddesign.com/#toplist

[accessed 9th November 2007]

Initial Research - Non Flash Introduction

However beautiful a layout is or can be with the Flash engine powering it, a well designed site can still have the same attributes of intrigue and appeal with the foundational building materials of html, java, xml and css scripting. Now slowly becoming the less popular commercial medium for website building due to their generally static nature 'traditional scripting' is becoming a design form which is receiving less attention. Despite its gradual decline in use within mainstream media circles, CSS and such scripting has continued to evolve within web development design circles. In addition the growth of personalised web space i.e. myspace, blogs, online profiles etc traditional scripting in design is still regarded as essential for customisations and flexibility.

Initial Research - Flash Innovation "Innovative & Inventive"

Innovation in design is always appraised but when an artist creates consistent work that deserves attention it's difficult to look upon the work of others with the same admiration. The work of Wagner Paula is a prime example of work that has a underlying tone of brilliance. When a web designer decides that their work can be more than just visuals and grasps the essence of website interaction then it becomes a much more fulfilling experience for the user interacting with the site as they have interacted with a piece of design that is more inventive and innovative than most other sites. Each of Wagner's pieces of work within the portfolio section deserves attention as each appears to have received a large amount of attention in terms of being inventive concepts with an obvious focus on maintaining user interest and pushing Flash capabilities.

Wagner Paula, Works designed by Wagner Paula

Available at: http://works.wagnerpaula.com/wagnerpaula.com/

[accessed 5th of November 2007]

Initial Research - Flash Innovation "Let It Speak For Itself"

Portfolio websites in are generally a showcase in themselves to show off the artist's design prowess with rich graphic laden interfaces and/or a simple yet themed layout to help communicate the artist's individuality. However breaking the mould in this area of self promotion is the straight to the point site of Denis Mujakovic, whose site is as simple as it gets. A full screen presentation with a scroll menu with 3 small links beneath is all that ranks as content on this site. Simplicity at its core is obvious on this uncluttered site as the scroll menu's function is for simply selecting Mujakovic's artwork to display full screen in the background, along with a small flash animated logo, which is as far as this site stretches in its presentation. With a concept so simple there is no confusion as to the sites function or content and essentially fulfils a portfolio sites purpose, which is to display work, provide contact details and a CV.

Denis Mujakovic Illustration Portfolio [online]

Available at: http://www.mujakovic.com/menu43f.htm

[accessed 5th November 2007]

Initial Research - Flash Innovation "Show Me"

Simple techniques mixed with beautiful visuals is a common and effective method of design. "The simplest ideas are generally the best" is a relatively common quote which is true for such websites as Ladio.ru. Using a simple website interface in accompaniment with a new technique trend in flash design of the screen following the mouse's movement in a large flash environment. In addition a simple mask technique gives the user an exploration type interface as they follow visuals to each button, link or small visual. Altogether this interface is an example of triggering the users initial intrigue as surfing the internet is very much an exploration and this site helps build upon this.

Ladio.ru designed by Ladio

Available at: http://ladio.ru/

[accessed 5th of November 2007]