Like a bolt of lightning

I downloaded a trial version of Flash and mimicked the demo from class. I tried posting the video here, but Blogger was processing it for about 10 minutes after upload, I got impatient and canceled out. Tips on how to make it process faster? Maybe it needs to be a certain file format?

I really like the idea of paths to help guide someone through a floorplan (Jetsons anyone?), and yesterday someone brought up the idea of shapes creating the path as opposed to colors or lines for direction. I like that.

My group decided to pursue the mock-ups individually, so today I'll be working on signs that display a room number and discipline name (i.e. "Drawing"). Symbols are another element to add to them, but Robert brought up a good point about these symbols looking too generic or clip art-ish, so I'm thinking about a different approach to test. What if the room name looked to be created from the medium it represents? "Painting" looks like it's painted on. "Graphics" may look like a sticker. Symbolism isn't just the use of symbols. Besides, it's an art building. I think we can take the liberty of making these things have some personality.


I was also thinking about a general map/directory that's stylized to possibly resemble a maze, because, c'mon, who didn't get lost their first day? Of course my passion for video games brought that idea: Pac Man or that old-school mouse and cheese PC game, Rodent's Revenge. It may be fun to have Blinky and the Ms. or a block of cheese and rodent appear to be running through the hallways of that map.

This is a fun one

Communication Arts listed Sony's Now I Feel site as site of the week for Aug. 27. Anybody can create their own interactive feeling here with images, music, illustrations and text to choose from. It's a fun Flash site, though it does present the question of exactly how original are these artistic expressions. With so many presets to choose from, yeah, it's easy to create a unique design, but I wouldn't call them original.

The site's navigation works great, and everything is very fluid, though I'd prefer a tab close by clicking on it the same way I clicked it to open. And I'm not sure why, but every time I enter the site and then go away to another, my keyboard goes dead. I have to restart Firefox to get it going again. Not sure if that's a Flash in general thing or a conflict with Firefox thing.

Wednesday, Robert Hower showed us a presentation on "The Brand Gap" by Marty Neumeier, and it addressed how advertising has changed as far as "the message" from addressing the product and it's benefits to how the product makes the consumer feel or wants to be identified. I think Sony's site is a great example of advertising aiming to make the consumer feel good (or in this case, feel whatever they want to). I never felt like I was being shown or persuaded to buy a product while visiting the site.

Getting there

I was thinking about how I would give someone directions to a room on the second floor, and another idea came to me. Instead of telling someone to look for a marker like a sign, what if I told them to follow something? The person would be more confident they were heading the right direction. The idea: color-coded strips or lines (similar to tape?) along the floor or walls. "Follow the blue line to the Drawing classrooms." "Follow the green strip to the Art History rooms." And then make sure the room numbers were easy to find once the door was reached. Some of the numbers are currently on the door, which means if the door is open, then you have no clue what's the room number. And to give these paths more purpose and aesthetics they could be broken up with blocks of images, quotes or facts relevant to the department/area/subject the paths lead to. It's an art building, and it really needs some more personality in those hallways.