More Flash!

This is a great article listing lots of examples worth checking out.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/02/39-creative-flash-designs/

Flash intro

Here is an interesting article about Flash and Flash intro videos that used to be popular.
http://www.brighthub.com/internet/web-development/articles/48150.aspx

Portfolio Websites

I have heard over and over again how important it is to have a portfolio website. I have been looking around and found this one that I thought was so interesting. What I liked about it the most was this concept that you can choose between the Emotional Flash version of the site or the standard. We have discussed a lot about how much talent and creative it takes to design and program a site with a lot of bells, whistles and animation but that how often times people want it quick and simple, similar to how intro videos used to be all the rage and now we just want to get to the "skip intro " button.

http://www.samueleschiavo.it/en/

More Flash Websites!

So here is an interesting article about Flash giving examples of great sites on .Net magazine in the UK. It really outlines what made the site so powerful for its initial release and some great background information-- this is go because some of the site are not up and running at this date sadly.

http://www.netmag.co.uk/zine/discover-culture/the-best-flash-sites-ever

There is another site http://www.topflashwebsites.com/ that rates Flash sites in a similar way.

These are some great examples I really liked Creative Fridge what an interesting interface!

Flash animation sites

I have been looking into Flash sites that use animation, not as an intro video but within the site here are some interesting ones I have come across. I don't think I am at that level yet but i think simple navigation really ads to the interactiveness of the site and can add a real striking effect.


http://motionfeel.com/

http://www.dubrovnikfashionweek.com/

http://www.mosi-mosi.com/

http://kortesandwich.com/# -- You have to check this out!

Flash Website Design: The Last Temptation

Here is a an article about Flash I found interesting. I felt like what we have learned so far is the opposite of this

"As more and more people are showing their interest and trust in this advanced web designing program, designers have left no stone unturned to bring the best Flash design services to you. With the use of Flash banners, Flash logos and intros, Flash movies and games, websites are now made more interesting and by this special pool of creative professionals called the Flash designers."

I thought we were seeing more of a minimalist shift- no more intro videos. What do you think?

http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/flash-website-design-the-last-temptation-1444920.html

Best Flash Portfolios

I came across this article in doing Flash websites about developing a personal portfolio site.

http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/buildingaportfolio/a/flash_portfolio.htm

Acidtwist had a nice clean look and easy navigation.

http://www.acidtwist.com/gallery/

Flash websites continued

Here is a great article from Smashing Magazine about Flash websites worth checking out. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/10/30/65-excellent-flash-designs/

I thought this was a very interesting and interactive design
http://www.buildyourwildself.com/

Creative Website Navigation

Here are some great examples of creative website navigation.
http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/creative-navigation/
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/07/01/ten-examples-of-unconventional-site-navigation/

This one is really innovative to me but almost too distracting http://bio-bak.nl/









This Long boarding website I really like http://longboardtheworld.com/

Vintage Websites

I have decide to create a website to showcase the vintage feel of Brooklyn Heights and in doing research I found some great examples of this design style that I thought everyone could enjoy. I think they are beautiful and I really like how the navigation, although obviously modern, still retains the overall feel.

http://www.myinkblog.com/2009/10/12/40-beautifully-designed-vintage-websites/

Best Flash Websites of 2009

So since our next project is to build a website in Flash I started looking around and came across an article about the best Flash Websites of 2009 from Ebiz MBA Here were a few that I really liked
http://www.sectionseven.com/

http://okaydave.com/

http://www.mono-1.com/monoface/main.html

http://www.marcecko.com/#/

The Bunnys

This is some pretty fun animation that I found featured in an article for Communication Arts about a new Duracell batteries. I am fascinated by the idea of using one image/character and multiplying it hundreds of times to create this effect style.










































http://chuckandlulu.wiredrive.com/l/p/?presentation=f8be82aca0772dc7659f5f153b1106c4

Rick Valicenti is AMAZING

http://vimeo.com/3302805

http://www.rickvalicenti.com/#/section:the_works/view:all/page:1

So during class tonight there is an amazing speaker, Rick Valicenti. Since we cannot attend I thought it would be nice to blog about him, I can do this because I was lucky enough to have him as a guest in my Type I class yesterday. Rick is in a word--inspiring. Here is a link to his latest project that began as a way to work though some difficult personal issues and turned into a tool to reinvigorate his design perspective, he said it really gave his career a whole new life.

A few things that Rick said that I really enjoyed were ( about being in grad school) " Celebrate your indulgence int he process, " Make sure you are at the table where the idea's come to life ." (on not being a photoshop monkey)
(advice to deisgners) "stay curious"

I encourage everyone to check out his personal website as well as his design firm Thirst in Chicago's site. http://www.3st.com/

Poetry in Motion

One of my biggest passions is poetry. In many ways I see its qualities like I do motion design. It is all about tone, rhythms, motion, emotion and expression/communication in a new form. One of my favorite poets is Cornelius Eady. He draws upon many influences, but one of the main ones is the music genre of blues and jazz. He wrote a poem after the jazz musician and civil right activist Nina Simone died, it is called "Nina's Blues." I love this poem and recenlty discovered that someone had animated it. This was very exciting! I think this could have been improved with more typographic detial but i love the idea behind it. Hope you enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TVFcJgkfo

A graduate student message in After Effects

So here is a very simple After Effects video that I think really shows great pacing, and contrast in mood and it is done by a graduate student just like us!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAAoaNMM-xc&feature=related

Vine growing makes everyone say "ahhh"

Professor Shin says students are always fascinated by the vine growing trick, well I am one of them and here is a video I found that does it in our ten second time frame effectively.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXntq0DfY5Q&feature=related

On that same note here is a diffrent kind of flourish technigue that addresses the popularity of the effect. I love the message: "Any good flourish is a combination of technigue and style use wisely..."

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1lbfUGB8fw&feature=related

Another type video

So now that the first project is done I can't stop searching for other great animated typography examples. Here is another one that I thought was very powerful with only type.
http://vimeo.com/1250327

After Effects

After learning Flash, which took me an embaressing amount of hours I am pretty nervous to learn another new program. Beyond learning the basics on Lynda.com I started searching for video examples to get an idea of what we could ultimately create. Below is a video that brings together numerous After Effects videos to show a wide array of examples and I really enjoyed it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Y3kDE8gok

This one was also really beautiful and elegant motion using After Effects
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG2tV-X5NiQ&feature=related

Rethinking the Shape of Everyday Life

Below is a link to a great New York Times article about how design has changed over time. My favorite was the quote " After decades of being an evolutionary process of incremental improvements, design is now revolutionary."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/arts/design/05iht-design5.html?_r=2&ref=design

Vote For Design

While Visiting the Copper Hewitt Design Museum this weekend I noticed the "People's Design Awards." You can click to browse and there are some incredible design examples. However I wonder why digital design does not appear to be represented?

http://peoplesdesignaward.cooperhewitt.org/2009/

So I did a search an found a SF based contest with some great motion focused design

http://cutandpaste.com/events/2009/feb/28/sanfrancisco-2009/motion-design/

Change By Design Review

I found this article while thinking about " What is digital design?" Although this is not specifically about digital design, this is a an article that ran in the New York Times on Sunday featuring the new Book "Change by Design"by Tim Brown the president and chief executive officer of IDEO, a design group based in Palo Alto, California. He has some interesting points about design and its purpose and constant changing state.

My favorite quote is: "Design thinking is an elusive concept, as Mr. Brown admits. His punchiest definition is that it is “about more than style.” In a nutshell, it involves the application of the traditional skills that designers develop, often without realizing, to identify problems and invent solutions in collaboration with experts from other disciplines, their clients and the people who will use the results."
The full article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/arts/28iht-design28.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=design

Stefan Poulos and a Bob Gill mention

This is an interview from Communications Art that I found that mentions our own Bob Gill. It is an interview with Stefan Poulos, the creative director at Discovery Creative, a multidisciplinary, award-winning, in-house agency producing advertising for Discovery Channel and its portfolio of brands.The interview is short but also offers some good basic advice for designers just starting out
http://www.commarts.com/insights/color-composition-ideas.html

Another Typography Animation--After Effects

I know that our next step will be to move on to After Effects and I recently found an typogrpahy animation done in After Effects that I think is really interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWgwLPAsjvM

Kinetic Tyography

In doing research for this Flash project I kept coming across this same Kinetic typography video:



http://brian.shaler.name/pages/blog/hey-ya-typography-animation/

I love the way it is timed so perfectly with the lyrics of the song and the overall tone of the music. I think he could have done without the the electric sound levels transition because I think it conflicts with his overall design, but besides that I think this is really an amazing typography flash video

Target re-designs their generic line

I am not sure if you have heard but Target has launched a new design for their line of generic products. In the past the design aspect of generic brands did not exist as the idea was to be cheap and simple. With the recession in full swing and more and more consumers been forced to sacrifice the names brands they were once loyal to this is a brilliant campaign. By revamping their look, or rather creating an identity, they will attract more customers who want to save money but don't want to completely loose the essence of traditional name brands. Here are two articles about it.

http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/bulls_eye_flies_up_and_up_up.php

http://www.minnpost.com/businessagenda/2009/06/25/9833/target_designers_succeed_again_with_up_and_up_brand

Motion Graphics in Music Videos

http://motionographer.com/theater/shynola-coldplay-strawberry-swing/

Here is a great music video that utilized computer based motion graphics and Q&A with the designer. I thought it was mesmerizing! I wish the designer had gone more into detail about the technical execution but perhaps no none wants to give away their secrets.

Typography and IKEA

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/arts/design/05ikea.html

Here is a great design article about IKEA's new typography style. I don't know anyone in New York who does not have IKEA all over their apt. so I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! It is amazing the uproar from the design community about the change in typeface. I have to be honest that I received my new catalog and did not notice the change.