Being a web company means your clients can be all over, from London to New Zealand, New York to South Africa. Sounds glam, but I think it’s easy to forget what’s on your doorstep – and there’s a great saying: ‘Don’t forget your roots, for they’ll always support you‘, which I think is a nice approach to working with local companies. When I started at Big Eye Deers, I was keen to meet up with local business people… Continue reading
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Category Archives: web design
According to jQuery support the popular open source library has now ‘overtaken’ Flash, in terms of how many websites have deployed each technology, at least when it comes to the world’s ‘top’ websites.
It used to be that if you wanted to create an animated, interactive interface for a website, you needed to use Flash. You might be able to get away with some basic animations using JavaScript, but if you made it too complicated, all you’d end up doing is bogging your visitor’s computer down and causing problems.
Plus, JavaScript was potentially more complicated to use than Flash, at least for those who aren’t fond of coding. But, of course, Flash doesn’t always work well (or sometimes not at all) on mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPad.
Enter HTML5. HTML5 works on just about every mobile platform out there. Anything you could create in Flash can be created with HTML5 (and sometimes added JavaScript and CSS3): animations, interactive elements, and more.
But it reintroduces the coding issue for a lot of designers, who might not be crazy about hand-coding everything. That’s where Adobe Edge comes in.
It’s an entirely new program (currently available as a free preview version) that helps you create animated web content using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. It includes drawing and text tools for creating new compositions, lets you import images in a variety of formats (SVG, PNG, JPG and GIF), and choreograph animation with a timeline-based editor. You can animate position, color, shape, size, rotation and other elements at the property level.
The great thing about using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript rather than Flash for your animated and interactive content is that your site remains standards-compliant. It preserves your CSS layout and keeps your content layer separate from your presentation layer. Because of this, your site will be compatible across a wider range of platforms and will be more search engine friendly with less work.
Because Edge is currently only in preview-stage, it’s bound to have some bugs and feature limitations. With that said, it already includes twenty five built-in easing effects, and other features to get you started. No word on how much Edge will cost after the 150 day trial period ends.
The Edge interface looks similar to many of Adobe’s other programs for working with interactive content, like Premiere Pro or Flash. If you’re already familiar with these programs, the Edge interface should be pretty easy to adjust to. If not, there’s going to be a definite learning curve, but it’s still a relatively easy interface to figure out.
Go have a play…
David McCandless of Information is Beautiful and PostGrad.com ran a competition to find the very best in the data presentation. Some of the entries are pretty awesome, a real mix of concepts and execution – flash through to HTML5 examples.
The entrants were given a data set relating to the demographics of university students in the UK, and were free to mash it up with additional data of their choice. It was judged by a panel including McCandless and .Net Magazine.
“The eye-catching simplicity is what makes this work along with boldness of the colour palette and the addition of neat visual aids to identify specific universities.”
Check it out.
http://www.postgrad.com/blog/data-visualisation-competition-the-winners/#more-317
A quick blog as we’ve been so busy we missed telling you about one of our more salubrious and design-driven clients, Red Square Creative Consultants…
RED SQ provide a high-end, comprehensive interior design solutions for both the discerning commercial and residential client. As such, a strong, unified web presence was needed that has the flexibility to meet the demands of both these markets, allowing scope to represent the full range of services Red Square offers. We built on the strengths of the existing brand, extending and developing it to introduce flexibility and a framework for future expansion. Continue reading
Sugar at No.10 is a Cardiff start-up business which needed an online presence. We were approached to design and build a landing page in advance of the venue opening in mid May 2011.
Regarding the title to this blog – yes, it’s cheesy but it’s true, so no sniggering in the back! Alas, just wanted to fill you in re a great little site for a new client. KCD is a UK-based KeyChain Desktop retailer that needed a website to communicate a clear and professional message to its customers…
Integrated Management Systems is a business which provides consultancy to companies across the UK. The Director of IMS, Ian Wilcox, approach Big Eye Deers seeking a website for his company, which had previously not had any online presence…
We at Big Eye Deers enjoy announcements like this more than most, so it’s with great pleasure to report that Pantone’s 2011 Colour of the Year is honeysuckle, which the company describes as “Courageous. Confident. Vital.”
They go on to say:
“Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.”
My goodness, that’s a lot of power for one colour.
Incidentally, honeysuckle is my power colour, so I look forward to fashion’s take on this “dynamic reddish-pink” in the coming seasons!
Read more about the colour of the year here.
Clothing brand APN (A Public Nuisance) required an e-commerce site that showcased their debut retail line, in addition to a stunning photography campaign and an SWL feature (or “Stuff We Like”) where visitors submit a range of interests to be included on the site.
We built the APN online store using FoxyCart, which offers a range of benefits, including:
- The ability to use your existing templates
- A format that is easy to implement
- Automatic shipping rates calculated
- XML Datafeeds
The overall site design is simple, yet striking, featuring red, white and black as the dominant colours. The Flash banner on the homepage features the campaign photography in an image carousel doused in a rich cherry red overlay.
See the site for yourself here.
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