First Flash Site

vodkadub

Hi,

I'm just about finished my first flash site, and I'm looking for your opinions on how I can improve on it. Please visit it at http://ryansdesigns.tk

Thank you

EKRIUQ

<snip>

vodkadub

snip?

Adam

Nothing is showing up...

vodkadub

apologies everyone its back up have a look.

Adam

I think the main point that will be raised here is: why flash?

The site does nothing that standard html can't do, and yet you lose out on SEO and indexing because it's flash...

vodkadub

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

heggie

why flash? you're not even using flash for the good things flash can do! there is 100% no reason at all to use flash on this site other than to annoy users.

vodkadub

because it just looks better in my opinion

Adam

I think the point still stands. If you're just doing web design then not so much, but if you plan to develop you need to display your ability to do things like valid markup, and accessibility.

As for critiquing the actual site, you need to look into forms in flash, the comment form reverts to markup and then when you click the go back link you have to wait for the site to load again. Also the contact form has no validation.

vodkadub

So do you recommend taking the user back automatically? and displaying a notification in flash instead of markup?

heggie

vodkadub wrote: »

because it just looks better in my opinion

Well your opinion is wrong. There is not 1 thing on that site that can't be done using html, plus you won't have any need for a preloader. Maybe you're more comfortable working in flash, which in my opinoin is the wrong reason to produce that site in flash

Adam

vodkadub wrote: »

So do you recommend taking the user back automatically? and displaying a notification in flash instead of markup?

No, I recommend not using flash unnecesarily. It's a certain technology, intended to be used in certain circumstances to cater for specific needs. Yours just isn't one of those circumstances.

The only thing you could prefer in your site over a html equivalent is the page transitions without reloading. Other than that, the site could be precisely replicated using basic markup and css. And the page transitions could be easily achieved using AJAX. Then you have a "proper" website, allowing you to display talents that your potential clients will be interested in. Because they will want to be indexed by google.

vodkadub

harsh. bare in mind i still intend to add features so the preloader will be necessary, thanks for your critique.

heggie

only necessary if you use flash, which in your site isnt necessary, so a preloader is not...

did you come for 'opinions on how I can improve on it' or to be told it's great? or was to get a link?

If you're a graphic designer, and not really into, or skilled in design for the web, there's plenty of easy to use portfolio site gallery's that would be more benefitial.

Adam

I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm trying to be helpful. I don't see which part of my post was harsh

Critiquing it as a flash site, it's pointless. It doesn't do anything flash orientated, so there's nothing to critique.

vodkadub

burn oooooh, ill take what you said on board

vodkadub

What is flash intended to do then?

Adam

vodkadub wrote: »

What is flash intended to do then?

Very simply? More than you can do with html.

I'm not going to enter into a debate on the capabilities and intentions of flash. You asked for opinions on how you can improve on your site.

-SEO
-Accessibilty
-No preloader

These things can be achieved by not using flash.

vodkadub

Mirror wrote: »

Very simply? More than you can do with html.

I'm not going to enter into a debate on the capabilities and intentions of flash. You asked for opinions on how you can improve on your site.

-SEO
-Accessibilty
-No preloader

These things can be achieved by not using flash.

I beg to differ http://www.hochmanconsultants.com/articles/seo-friendly-flash.shtml

heggie

Listen, get a ****ing clue before you start arguing on a forum where you asked for improvements. A flash blog, now that I can't wait to see.

Your site - its nearly finished is it? don't see very much on it.

The design, is ****e to put it bluntly - whether or not you are experienced in web technologies or not, as a graphic designer you should be doing a hell of a lot better.

You know you can pick colours in flash right?

edit: also, your taking SEO advice from a website thats put together using tables.

Adam

vodkadub wrote: »

I beg to differ http://www.hochmanconsultants.com/articles/seo-friendly-flash.shtml

Disagree with what? I didn't say they couldn't be achieved by using flash. But you haven't implimented that technology so it's a moot point. And it still doesn't justify your use of flash.

Look, I couldn't care less what you do. But you came here looking for advice, and now you're just arguing with the advisors. Best of luck to you! :rolleyes:

vodkadub

ooooooo someone had a bad day

heggie

bound to succeed, afterall your company name rhymes - that's half the battle.

cianclarke

vodkadub wrote: »

ooooooo someone had a bad day

No, he's completely right. You came here looking for advice, and then ignored the unanimous opinion of every professional on the site.
The flash is completely unnecessary and a very bad choice. The design should have been coded in xHTML and CSS, in which case it would have been quite impressive.
If you were to do this, the only other thing I might reccomend is that you try and make your design more scalable - on my 1900X1200 monitor it looks a bit lost, and it could scale quite nicely with a little work.
If you want some help getting your design to work in CSS/xHTML I'm sure myself and several others would be willing to help, however I suspect you're going to ignore this advice.

Adam

cianclarke wrote: »

No, he's completely right. You came here looking for advice, and then ignored the unanimous opinion of every professional on the site.
The flash is completely unnecessary and a very bad choice. The design should have been coded in xHTML and CSS, in which case it would have been quite impressive.
If you were to do this, the only other thing I might reccomend is that you try and make your design more scalable - on my 1900X1200 monitor it looks a bit lost, and it could scale quite nicely with a little work.
If you want some help getting your design to work in CSS/xHTML I'm sure myself and several others would be willing to help, however I suspect you're going to ignore this advice.

I think it's a bit late to ask for help now in fairness! I certainly won't be taking requests.

vodkadub

I would be interested yes, but I'm not very familiar with xhtml

heggie

hey I wonder is this that Webexpert guy again?

Adam

heggie wrote: »

hey I wonder is this that Webexpert guy again?

:pac:

vodkadub

heggie wrote: »

hey I wonder is this that Webexpert guy again?

?

cianclarke

It's definately something worth learning, and wouldn't take too long. If you wanted you could even code the thing in dreamweaver if you prefer working with a GUI - would bypass some of the need to learn xhtml/css.

tricky D

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

p

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stab*City

aidan_walsh wrote: »

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

and indexing is only one aspect of SEO

p

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

p

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.

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

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.

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

Thanks

p

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

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

p

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

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..