First Flash Site

tricky D · 24-07-2008 1:25pm

vodkadub wrote: »

not really looking to get on google pages, it's just going to be a site to show case my work.

It's a very very very poor show case.

1. Completely inappropriate and pointless use of Flash as already noted.
2. Black and white with some splodges here and there is not design.
3. Uses frames to hide the free hosting - lol.
4. Spelling mistake on first line.
5. No real content or info.

If I was commissioning work, your site would have hit the bin after point 1 and I would consider the 30 seconds to view it as time completely wasted.

0/10

Go to http://www.w3schools.com/ and learn xhtml and css and check out some design sites listed in other threads on this forum

24-07-2008 2:05pm

Just spotted this thread. Here's my 2c.

Overall, it's not bad for a first flash website. It's nowhere near the level of professional Flash sites, and as others have said, you're not really using Flash over HTML for any obvious reason. Look at www.thefwa.com to see what kind of things you can achieve with Flash. However, having said that, since this is your first flash site, then you're still learning so that's to be expected. It all works basically, and does the job, you've still got a lot to learn, but it's not a bad starting point.

Overall, you need to look at a few things
1. Learn the difference between a HTML site and a Flash site, there's a time for both and knowing which technology to use is a good thing for you to learn.
2. Designwise, work on your typography and layout. The grungey look you did there is fun, but a little clichéd. Experiment with various styles and play around so that you can use a variety of styles appropriate to the task at hand.
3. Carry on practicing & learning and enjoy it!

Stab*City · 24-07-2008 3:59pm

Mirror wrote: »

Also the contact form has no validation.

yes no validation if i enter no details in the contact form and hit submit the page just postsback and the whole thing reloads!! very amatuerish if you ask me i wouldnt be holding my breath for the work to be coming in on the back of this site alone..

if this is what it seems to be a work in progress then you have a long way to go.. fading images in and out is not what i would call a good flash site.. flash is best used for interactivity of which your site has none..

PixelTrawler · 25-07-2008 11:58am

Big issues with this site...

Accessibility and Screen Readers - wont be able to read your text.
Google wont be able to read your text / SEO.
No tooltips on navigation icon.
Back button broken (i.e. you click gallery after home and click "back" you wont go to home, you'll go to the last site you were one - to the browser there is only one page)
No terms and conditions, no privacy policy

Other issues - this site is to showcase your talents and get work? This is your brochure. I look at this site and I think I'm not going to hire this guy for graphic design or site design. I'm not trying to be blunt or harsh but as someone whose worked in the industry for almost 7 years, your site has no appeal from a business perspective.

There is certainly a place for flash and flash skills, but the whole site in flash - well I havent seen this done in a long time, and for good reason - most of them pointed out on this thread.

I would recommend: xhtml & css, a fresh design and by all means in your portfolio showcase your flash projects and skills. If you want site design work you need to demonstrate the ability to code web standards sites and an awareness of SEO - neither of which this site does.

(try www.openwebdesign.org download some templates and tear them apart to see how they are built - you'll pick up the basics quick enough)

I'd also recommend learning a server side coding language as its hard to get too far these days without it.

One last thing I notice - your title is Graphic design but the contact us page refers to Web design - this is a confusing message.

Hopefully you take some advice on board as at the end of the day its your business, and good luck with it.

vodkadub wrote: »

not really looking to get on google pages, it's just going to be a site to show case my work.

One last thing - I completely fail to understand this statement. You'll probably get 50-70% traffic through google alone. No google = no users.

vodkadub · 28-07-2008 4:23pm

Ok I've taking everything on board and learned a little css and xhtml, here is the alternative link to the flash site, not complete but getting there, might rethink the design and make things bigger; http://ryans-designs.freehostia.com/htmlver/
Now do i completely abandon the flash site, or take some of its features such as gallery, and contact form, or simply offer the user the option to see a flash or html site?

PixelTrawler · 28-07-2008 10:40pm

Good job on the move to xhtml & css. Ditch the flash also - its now redundant.

It still doesnt change my opinion of the design itself - this does not scream hire me. A graphic designers own site has to be pretty special (to get work)...

I suggest looking at other sites and writing down what works and what doesnt - Im not saying nick ideas, but what design ideas work.... Dont just look, make notes, think about it...

Silly title but a good book is this The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

It focuses entirely on design - no code - I have it on the desk and I find it a great reference.

vodkadub · 29-07-2008 12:29am

Really appreciate the advice, I've been thinking about the design, it doesn't really convey that I'm a professional trying to get work, so I will scrap the grungey look and go for something more professional. I will take a look at this book you suggested.
Thanks again

PixelTrawler · 29-07-2008 7:42am

vodkadub wrote: »

Really appreciate the advice, I've been thinking about the design, it doesn't really convey that I'm a professional trying to get work, so I will scrap the grungey look and go for something more professional. I will take a look at this book you suggested.
Thanks again

You can get a sample chapter on the sitepoint site... gives you an idea of what its about...

joekelly123 · 29-07-2008 2:16pm

I think some of the experts need to do some homework before ranting on about how flash is no good for SEO.

I point you too Google and Flash

Although this is a relatively new situation it nevertheless shows that Google can indeed index and spider flash files.

Enjoy

aidan_walsh · 29-07-2008 2:20pm

SEO is but one aspect of the issues in a Flash site.

Stab*City · 29-07-2008 4:09pm

aidan_walsh wrote: »

SEO is but one aspect of the issues in a Flash site.

and indexing is only one aspect of SEO

29-07-2008 5:11pm

vodkadub wrote: »

Really appreciate the advice, I've been thinking about the design, it doesn't really convey that I'm a professional trying to get work.

With complete respect, are you actually a professional web designer?

I assumed you were a college student from the site. If you're expecting to sell professional design services then you'll need to up your game considerably. Learning the basics of web software doesn't really make you a design professional. I'd probably suggest doing a few courses

Also, check these articles out:
http://www.andyrutledge.com/design-test.php
http://www.andyrutledge.com/the-employable-web-designer.php

29-07-2008 5:16pm

joekelly123 wrote: »

I think some of the experts need to do some homework before ranting on about how flash is no good for SEO.

I point you too Google and Flash

Although this is a relatively new situation it nevertheless shows that Google can indeed index and spider flash files.

Google has been indexing Flash content for years, ever since Macromedia released their Flash Search Engine SDK in about 2001/2002.

This will improve it, but there's many cores issues with Flash that can never be addressed by any search engine.

Fundamentally, Flash isn't 'document-based' like HTML and so even if you can index text inside a movie, you have no means to link to it. AJAX things cause a similar problem. Unless a Flash site is specifically aimed at being searchable/indexable and bookmarkable then this announcement will have minimal impact.

S.M.B. · 29-07-2008 7:17pm

Solyad wrote: »

Good job on the move to xhtml & css. Ditch the flash also - its now redundant.

It still doesnt change my opinion of the design itself - this does not scream hire me. A graphic designers own site has to be pretty special (to get work)...

I suggest looking at other sites and writing down what works and what doesnt - Im not saying nick ideas, but what design ideas work.... Dont just look, make notes, think about it...

Silly title but a good book is this The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

It focuses entirely on design - no code - I have it on the desk and I find it a great reference.

Does anyone know any other similar books as helpful as this one? I'm looking for more books focusing on design principles rather than coding.

heggie · 29-07-2008 11:20pm

SMB check out some books on general design, same principles apply. Look fo Grid & Typography books, Making & Breaking the Grid & Stop Stealing Sheep are 2. I have to say, there are many more great resources on the web, check mark boulton & andy rutledge's sites (dnt have links handy, but type in google) for some great articles.

S.M.B. · 30-07-2008 9:52am

I'll have a look out for those books. I'm already aware of those websites.

Thanks

30-07-2008 5:27pm

S.M.B. wrote: »

Does anyone know any other similar books as helpful as this one? I'm looking for more books focusing on design principles rather than coding.

I posted up a good few links & books here:
http://www.creativeireland.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8549

vodkadub · 31-07-2008 3:00pm

That's strange my flash site shows up in google now,
http://www.google.com/search?q=ryansdesigns&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

31-07-2008 4:05pm

vodkadub wrote: »

That's strange my flash site shows up in google now,
http://www.google.com/search?q=ryansdesigns&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

Google will index Flash sites basically. The problem is for more detailed searches. E.g. if you search for web designer dublin, for example a HTML site with those terms would generally be much higher ranked than a flash site of similar popularity.

E.g. The reason the other guy's site comes up first ahead of yours is because it's more search-engine friendly.

Stab*City · 31-07-2008 4:15pm

vodkadub wrote: »

That's strange my flash site shows up in google now,
http://www.google.com/search?q=ryansdesigns&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

well when you search for the name of your site of course its gonna come up!!

try searching for designer+your location see how far down the list u are then..

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 9:05am

Hi,

I've redesigned the site and decided to avoid flash altogether, it's coded in xhtml and css now, it's not finished but I'm looking for critique before I commit to finishing it, the css has some issues with older version of ie and firefox is there a hack or some kind of script to get rid of these bugs to ensure that it is compatiable with all browsers.

http://ryansdesigns.tk

Thanks

Webmonkey · 07-08-2008 9:32am

Nothing aligns up properly in firefox - it doesn't look too good tbh

And jesus get rid of that advertisement! - That is definetely something you don't want on a site advertising your services.

The reasons you are having cross browser compatability is because your coding is not valid XHTML and more than likely CSS could be wrong too - Chances are if you remove all the errors - you'll have a good chance making it consistent across browsers.

Final Edit! - Sorry once again- reason you've no doctype is because of the tk domain thing. Your code is valid.

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 9:40am

Can you have a look at the style sheet to see what I'm doing wrong, the xhtml validates if you click the box. Seems to align correctly in my browser using firefox 2.0 in work and firefox 3 at home.

edit - the true link is http://ryans-designs.freehostia.com if you want to look at the source

Adam · 07-08-2008 10:10am

I believe the content and button divs are being positioned relative to the main_content div, where as everything else is being positioned relative to the top left of the browser.

I advise you use one wrapper div, center it, and then place everything inside it relative to it.

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 10:13am

I'm not sure what you mean, here is the style.css. http://ryans-designs.freehostia.com/style.css could you have a look at it and tell me what to do please, I will adjust it accordingly thanks.

Webmonkey · 07-08-2008 10:30am

It could be the fact that I've a high resolution on the monitor. Increase yours and see....

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 10:33am

Ah I see what you mean if I resize the window the elements clump together, and overlap. My current res is 1024x768, is there a way to correct this clumping

edit - I've attached an image of what I see, bare in mind it's been designed to suit my res, it's needs to adjust all the elements for other resolutions and browsers, can anyone help?

Webmonkey · 07-08-2008 10:44am

Try wrapping a div around the whole lot making its width fixed. What was mentioned above already.

Perhaps

#wrapperid
{
width: 800px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right auto;
}

that will also center it.

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 10:46am

Thanks for the suggestions would you have the code to achieve this please.

vodkadub · 07-08-2008 10:54am

Webmonkey wrote: »

#wrapperid
{
width: 800px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right auto;
}

So wrap all the existing elements in this?

First Flash Site

Comments