Flash Site Design - New To Web Design

Author

New To Web Design

mafyew

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

I recently became interested in flash web design. I have been working on a new
site for my father's company, something that needs to look professional, and
user friendly. I have come up with this design, but for some reason i feel that
it is lacking. Any imput would be great. Does it suck or does it work? ideas
would be great too, thanks.

http://www.videosolutionsinc.com

Joseph Arseneau

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

I would love to know how you made that first page with the logo
floating in. I might consider adding it to my site?

mafyew wrote:
> I recently became interested in flash web design. I have been working on a new
> site for my father's company, something that needs to look professional, and
> user friendly. I have come up with this design, but for some reason i feel that
> it is lacking. Any imput would be great. Does it suck or does it work? ideas
> would be great too, thanks.
>
> http://www.videosolutionsinc.com

macron

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

i think it makes nice use of the sliding navigation. the colors are a bit
drab, but that's easy to fix. the photos in the gallery section could be a bit
snappier - more contrast, sharper focus. maybe photoshop them + get rid of the
microwave in the background? otherwise, it's good, clean, and simple. get it
registered on google, and go for it.

m

unilooney

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

The base of it is good ... I just have issue with a few little things.

I think the navigation buttons should have text of all the same size and case
(HOME is the only one in all caps) to be consistent, and be in the (Trebuchet?)
header font rather than body font. I'm also not keen on the gradient fill
rollovers particularly as they are not consisent with the up state - if you
want to give them more life I'd advise making look like buttons.

I also wonder whether the gallery should load onto the main page rather than
its own window. Good that you have it in Flash though so people can't steal
your images.

Hope that helps and feel free to disagree with me.

wynterain

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

personally I think the only two good things are the company logo at the top
right and the sliding navigation. Everything else needs a desperate facelift.
It is a good site for a beginner but far from a professional looking one.
There are a lot of websites dedicated to teaching you how to enhance the visual
look of your site. Try to google for flash button tutorials and photoshop
tutorials. You can start with Flashkit.com and greycobra.com.

The Feldkircher

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

I agree with most of the comments so far, but I have to add.

it might be interesting for you to see a flashing logo on your main page, but
not me and its not even clickable, don't make people guess how to enter,
tell/show them.

Slide effect is OK, buttons not, there are so many online resources for free
buttons and navbars, theres no excuse to have a poor interface.

Content and colors need to be toned down, this is a commercial site, not a
kids homepage. Style can overcome limited content, while you grow in experience
but bad design will reflect on your company profile/image.

Chris Georgenes

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

I agree with every comment so far also - i would also suggest gettingn away from tyhe default 12fps
- nobody really uses that anymore - that frame rate harks back to 1999 when processors were a
fraction the speed they are now. Bump it up to 24 or even 30 - right now the transitions feel like
underwater - make the site "snappier", "zippy".

The buttons confined to rectangles, and their radial gradient rollOvers look the most amtuerish in
style and execution.

We see tons of flash websites here for years and many are extrememly pro and groundbreaking but even
more just don't compare to anything above amatuer level. go here:
www.thefwa.com if you want to see pretty much the cream of the crop when it comes to flash website
design and concepts.

good luck.

******************************************
--> **Adobe Certified Expert**
--> www.mudbubble.com
--> www.keyframer.com

The Feldkircher wrote:
> I agree with most of the comments so far, but I have to add.
>
> it might be interesting for you to see a flashing logo on your main page, but
> not me and its not even clickable, don't make people guess how to enter,
> tell/show them.
>
> Slide effect is OK, buttons not, there are so many online resources for free
> buttons and navbars, theres no excuse to have a poor interface.
>
> Content and colors need to be toned down, this is a commercial site, not a
> kids homepage. Style can overcome limited content, while you grow in experience
> but bad design will reflect on your company profile/image.
>

mafyew

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

i tottally agree with you all, and thank you for the imput. i know the
intereface is amatuer, and thats mostly because i am. The reason i posted this
is to a) make sure the lay out and function itself was fine and b) find out
ways to make it look more professional.

mafyew

2006-11-05, 10:33 pm

i got studio 8, which is a step in the right direction for improving the
interface. I started off with the buttons, and added some small effects
background. I will definatly continue to mess around with it, and learn things
as i go, hopefully you will see this as an improvement. let me know what ya
think