Why Adobe Flash For Website?

[roseberry guitars]

I am in the beginnings of having a new website designed for my business (hand

made musical instruments). I have observed that many of your sites are designed

around Adobe Flash 9. What is it that attracts you to this particulay "Style"

(if you will)? Why do you feel it is the best way to present your work? Any

other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[colinsouthern]

In my opinion so so so many designers overuse flash on their websites to such a degree that they practically paralyse them - for good examples of this look no further than just about any major watch manufacturer (Rolex, Omega etc).

 

Many wedding sites seem almost as bad - it's like having a 500 horse-power car with 490 horse-power devoted to the air conditioning - with the net effect (when used on websites) is a site that's slow to load and difficult to navigate. MANY that I've seen would be at least a tenfold improvement if they just ditched it altogether in favour of simple HTML with a clear & clean look and layout.

[mohammed_abidally]

Fully agree with Colin.

 

As one learns and becomes more sophisticated one also learns that simplicity is excellence!

 

Mohammed

[mcmanamey]

WOO HOOO I don't feel like a left-behind slob for having not a single thing in Flash on my

page! Thanks, guys!!! :-D

[ellis_vener_photography]

I hate almost every flash site I've seen and I really hate Flash sites with a crappy soundtrack.

[jake_holt]

Flash is like any tool- used with skill it can do great things. Used poorly, well, you get a

gagfest.

[jake_holt]

To answer your question - I chose a Flash-based site because it has a more attractive

interface than your average HTML site. Still, it is a petty minimal site - no music, no silly

animations, just the photos.

[colinsouthern]

"Used poorly, well, you get a gagfest."

 

Or to adapt an old joke ...

 

"Only 5% of flash developers know how to use the medium properly - unfortunately, 95% or flash developers think that they belong to the 5%!"

[adw]

I agree. Jake Holt's website looks good, but it has poor navigation and is fairly slow. The

same design, drop down menus and even effects can be achieved with simple HTML and

perhaps AJAX.

[dawn_kelly]

They use it because Flash is flashy. I don't have any Adobe Flash on my website. Instead, I have the old fashion HTML and javascript version of flash... a simple script that rotates the images on some of the pages on the site. That said, I probably will put a short flash presentation on my site that the visitors can choose to watch, but I won't force them to watch it like some sites do.

 

I wanted a fast loading and obviously easy to navigate site. I didn't want my visitors to have already read a copy of 'Web Site Navigation For Dummies' in order to use my site. You know, I wouldn't be surprised to actually see that title some day.

[kevin_swan1]

I prefer a mix of both on my website. I eschew all-Flash websites for many reasons, such as:

 

<p/>

<ul>

<li>Inability to be effectively and easily indexed by search engines.

<li>Restrictions and assumptions regarding the user's browser and screen size.

<li>Bandwidth consumption.

<li>Difficult to resize the text for people with weak vision.

<li>Difficult for screen readers to read the page for the visually impaired.

<li>Difficult for translation services to translate text content.

</ul>

 

<p/>That said, I admit that my site does include a Flash animation, but only for a slideshow of images. The entire site is plain-Jane HTML, to be compatible with the widest range of web standards.

[hooman_b]

Although my site is HTML based, I do have swf embedded in the HTML on the gallery pages. I do it for 2 reasons. The main one being a clean way to put up and show 30 photos without having to reload a web page. And by using slideshow pro and director, I can very easily update and rearrange my photos in the gallery. Also, an added benefit is that flash prevents people from copying your photos.

[jack_cassidy]

I am marketing myself to young trendy professional couples. NONE of the people I am

marketing to are going to not be able to get to my site because it is flash. So I do not worry

about it.

 

There is not a single wedding photographer who I respect who does not use flash.

 

Flash is where it is at.

[don_e]

Flash is favored by many graphics designers because it allows them to control the page. Many designers learned their craft in the hardcopy paradigm. They want fixed inches, not relative pixel size. They are likely to work in Illustrator, not a bitmap editor. They do not care for the fact that everyone's web browser can display a page differently and are not happy designing with that in mind.

 

The expression "control freak" comes to mind. Flash is good and useful within a site, but I don't care for a "Flash site".

[colinsouthern]

"There is not a single wedding photographer who I respect who does not use flash.

 

Flash is where it is at."

 

I'm reminded of something that one of the advertising greats said (I think it was David Ogilvy or Claude Hopkins). He said "I don't want you to tell me that you found my advertisement funny or entertaining - I want you to tell me that you found it so damn compelling that you bought the product"

 

Whether the site sells the service should be the real test, not whether it's flash or not. As a case in point that I mentioned earlier, I find "flash" watch manufacturers sites such as Rolex to be the next closest thing to unuseable - I'm interested in a Rolex Yachtmaster - and I would dearly love to be able to simply navigate to a page with all the Yachtmaster models - click on the one of interest - and have it load a simple HTML page containing a bigger photo and basic details - as it stands at present they have all the watches in the line wizzing back and forth at differnet speeds depending on where you put the mouth - too few details - and even the few details have to scrolled.

 

It's somewhat ironic that I find it easier to use other websites to get the information on the Rolex that I'm after. Photographers won't be able to enjoy that kind of luxury with their products: If the site tries too hard to impress with fancy graphics and controls and forgets that it's purpose is to see the service then people will lose interest quickly.

[don_e]

A Flash site is not a good choice if you want the virtual equivalent of foot traffic to your site. If your site is really not for the public, but something to direct clients or prospects to, then use Flash and design to your hearts content if you want...then again notice that hardly anyone likes Flash sites except designers.

 

We've all had frustrating attempts, like Colin's, to get some info from a website and had to face the horror of the Flash movin' pichur. It's the web equivalent of a telemarketer.

[kelly_flanigan1]

If one uses dialup one often glosses over bloaded sites that bog; one vists trim sites that dont waste ones time. After Katrina some of us were on generators for several weeks. One would use them for a few hours a day; get online and then start cursing when one tried to get on a insurance, government or other site that loaded many megabytes. Heck; use flash. Load your customers with a 100 megs of cute flash.:) Its an in thing to make bloaded ill webs sites today that bog. Your goal is to irrate your customers. If some new web stuff comes out; use it; make the start page many many megabytes!

[mike_godwin1]

I try and use as much straight HTML that I can on my site. There are still quite a few people on modems out there and I remember when I was on a modem and a site loaded slow, I'd move on to the next site.

[jugenjury]

A good mixture of flash and html is fine. It all depends on what you want to do. For some things, flash is the easiest way to accomplish the task. For others, html/java/php/etc. might be easiest.

[michael_dimarzio]

As a user/surfer, flash intros=I move on.