New Flash Site Check Please....

Wow... A re-design of a web site for a New Media Ad Firm. One of the things that only happens 1-2 times a decade! HaHaHa...

I think this is one of the hardest things for a firm to do, their own web site.


A little about the site:

Due to our clientele, this site was created high-bandwidth. DSL or faster to access quickly.

All pictures were taken by staff.

Color is taken from our studio's interior design scheme (which was built by TAG in a old 1890s brick farm supply loft).

Spider was borrowed from a Flash friend and augmented.

Much animation was created in 3d including all 'pictures' of our work which were rendered for display.

Video was included in the department heads area. Shot on DV, edited with Discreet Edit, outputted to images, imported and animated in Flash 5 (too bad MX wasn’t out yet :( )

Let me know...

http://www.theauragroup.com

Thanks!

Hi,

I liked your site very much. Lots of nice 'user interaction'.

I especially liked the pullout video clip on the bio's in the 'head' section, but the scrollbar in those section's was a bit pale for my liking.

Nevertheless, a fun site for your clientiel.

Well done.

rgds,

Rob

great site here!
there's little to say.. there's a clear design minded work ! perhaps the fonts in the news section a bit smaller could make it reach the top...

however there's just one personal thing i don't like... it doesn't innovate.. but that's personal.

great site. but there were some issues with animations that went a little too long, and links that didn't react when clicked the first time. i was reading the news about taking networking to a whole new level, then the screen changed to something i had clicked on a minute before.
and scrollbars in the photography lab section were hard to find and didn't take me anywhere at all.

Very nice site indeed, from start to fisnish was very enjoyable. There was so much to click and interact with and that kept my attention. The site contains many items yet it is ket well organized and looks professional. I just love every detail!

The only comment I have is the scrolling bar. When I went to work I saw the text was been cut off so I figure there would be a scrolling bar but could not find it, then I realized where it was, this might just be me, I might need glasses :)

Very good work!

Thanks for the input.

Looks like the scroll bars are a 'bit hidden. I will have the team re-evaluate 'em.

Keep the comments comming. Thanks again. Love the direct comments!

Very sexy layout.

The only suggestion I have is for the loading sequence. I know it's a trend to use fancy terms like "Accessing Data", "Connecting to server" etc. However depending on the intended audience, wouldn't a simple "Loading..xx% - xx seconds to go" make more sense? The audience would then know what is mot important to them, "How long will this take".


Regards,
Alan

Me Again,

I just realised something. At first I though you didn't have any content yet because when I clicked the nav buttons nothing happened. Reading further in the post I saw comments on the content so I had another look.

The problem is that you don't have a preloader for the content modules or any indication that clicking the button actually did something. This will definately need to be fixed for users on dial-up.

Regards,
alan

Thanks for the input.... again :)

We thought designing around who we were and not using Photodisc Images was important. Use the colors of our studio and pictures of TAG members and friends allows clients to get to know you intimately...

I don’t think it is very 'organic' for a company to use stock pictures that don’t portray who they are. It can definitely help with design to include a little of that, but to 'keep it real' we elected to keep it personal.

Another site I liked that followed this dynamic was http://www.egomedia.com. They showed themselves and even made fun of themselves. I think clients like to meet someone they virtually meet on your site.

You do what you have to do, but a quick photo-shoot one day can go along way.

Keep ‘em coming…!

Cheers

> Spider was borrowed from a Flash friend and augmented.


who is this "friend" exactly?

Funny....they don't even know who you are Spydr!

I checked the site out....to me it looks like more of a brochure ware kinda thing...not a new media web site. Like you guys are interior designers...or a small architect firm....really did not give me the impression you were a serious media firm...

Mostly because of all those "whacky" motion graphic clips...throwing stones...and jumpin in and out of windows and stuff.....just a thought. And the layout of the site.

Yeah...and definately you have loading problems...should break those down and load them up when called...with preloaders.

Overall...it's ok clean...but not in a media firm way.....it gave me the wrong impression on what you do...bogged down my system pretty hard (kinda overkill)which is kinda surprising since you say you are "media convergence experts"...and having live links to your work would be nice....

Just my feedback......

Oh yeah....for a new media firm that brags having "biblical" actionscripting skills...why would you use someone elses work....like the Spider on your site?...especially without their permission?

Flash Kracker -

Thanks again for the input from everybody here.

The spider we saw, offered by a Flash friend at ultrashock.com, inspired us. Thanks Geoff for the inspiration. Currently nearly 7000 people are so impressed they also downloaded it! With 20 some entries at Ultrashock, Geoff, you’ll be famous in no time.

We rebuilt it so it matched the look of our site, and gave it new feet, legs, and a body. We also wrote the code so it acted a little differently.

Thanks again Geoff!

mudgy wrote:
The spider we saw, offered by a Flash friend at ultrashock.com, inspired us. Thanks Geoff for the inspiration. Currently nearly 7000 people are so impressed they also downloaded it! With 20 some entries at Ultrashock, Geoff, you?ll be famous in no time.

We rebuilt it so it matched the look of our site, and gave it new feet, legs, and a body. We also wrote the code so it acted a little differently.
.........................

Sounds like Geoff did not "offer" the file to you for your website. Lot's of people download flash files....mostly to learn from them....augmenting the spider's color and feet...does not change the basic code that is so unique to the author's style...there would be no spyder A.I. walking around if it was not for Geoff's hard work!!

And just because 7000 people downloaded does not make using it without permission or giving credit right..... heck... like I said before... if you are such great actionscripting experts...why do you need it at all?

I notice you give no credit anywhere on your site for his work?? I think you should ask for his permission...and give him credit ...or take it off your page....

Everyone knows where that spyder code came from and that it did not come from this aura group.

I challenge you to show us another site that is using this actionscript...especially one that is a company... like yours...not an individual or proto site? I doubt you will find one....that's because most people respect other's hard work...and it makes you look kinda foolish. : )

All I am sayin...is give credit where credit is due...on your site....not just backpeddling here on the baords.

Flashkracker

hello...

i am new to these boards/ I do a lot of flash/ but not participate on flash boards until now. This is cool.

I have visited your site and is pretty cool. seems like you do alot of things. I too am amature photographer. I was reading in your site that a lot of you do photography and was wondering why your site photos are not better or clearer.

I think some look too dark or not adjusted right. Can you clean them up?

I am surprised they are not of better quality cuz you are all photographers.

Also, looks like I have to be careful not to use other peoples work around here/ from reading above.

hope this feedback helps.

sPiNdOcToR187