Graphic + Web Design

Some Flash Inspiration

November 17, 2008

November 17, 2008 Flash certainly offers much richer interfaces and web experiences than standard HTML environments. It’s a wonder that every site doesn’t leverage Flash in some way – such a versatile tool. And although the development time may be longer than a traditional HTML framework, it really pays off. Let's take a look at three Flash sites that are truly inspirational. Jamba Juice, Einstein Bros, and Good Things Should Never End. These sites are fun, educational and user-friendly.

Getting Juicy

www.jambajuice.com

The Jamba Juice site has a piece of chalk drawing most of the interface features as you navigate through the site. You can even pick up a piece of chalk to use on your own. There are colorful screen transitions between areas of the site – and it’s not every day that you see a lemon teach nutrition facts. The interface fits within the browser window and flexes when the browser window changes in size.

Bagels for Everyone

www.einsteinbros.com

It’s fun to watch the Einstein Bros site get put together. The two brothers are animated characters that come in on the scene from time to time. The idea behind the site was to bring the customer into a virtual store, so most of what you see is what you would see if you visited one of their locations. There are some really nice touches in this site, like the animated sign, e-Club graphic, and the Einstein bros card in the corners of the interface. When moving from one area to the next, a bagel replaces your normal cursor. The swinging menu signs are cool, too.

Never-Ending Fun

unlimited.orange.co.uk/flash/go

I didn’t believe it at first, but the title of this site says it all. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of activities built into Good Things Should Never End. Once the site gets loaded, look at the vertical scrollbar. It continues to shrink as the content loads vertically on the page. Although you don’t need the scrollbar to navigate, just drag with your cursor. Each step of the way you are greeted with a new activity and you can share each one with your friends on MySpace, Facebook, Del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon. Even the little trees are active elements of this interface.

Flash continues to amaze and these are just some examples of how it can effectively be used for site development in the corporate world.