Flashing!

Flash seems to be the buzzword flying around the new media world at the moment. Whether you’ve heard the name or not, chances are that some time in your browsing history, you’ve come across one or two flash based sites with things flicking round the screen and interestingly constructed designs. The flexibility of flash has opened up a whole new environment for web designers to work and concepts once impossible in standard html and other scripted languages can now be realised. Plus, with the average bandwidth of web users increasing literally on a monthly basis, the opportunity to provide media rich content is now more apparent than ever before.

But as us designers get a bit carried away with ourselves, underneath the hype surrounding Flash is an equal amount of bad press, and in part, deservedly so.

The joy of swf

Flash is a relatively new tool which everyone has got excited about because, shock horror, web elements can now be animated and positioned freely. This is all well and good, but like any tool, it can be used well with skill and expertise, or it can be used badly - and when it’s used badly, things start to go very wrong. With all the excitement, many developers have come to consider the fact that a site is constructed in flash as a substitute for a well-made web site, completely disregarding the basic principals of good web design. I’m sure you’ve seen examples of the kind of sites I’m talking about; difficult to use over-complicated navigation systems, long loading times, needless animations – generally going a little OTT on the subject.

However, the applications for Flash used correctly far outweigh the mistakes of a few. Flash isn’t always going to be relevant to the needs of your site but when considering how to structure your site, the flexibility of Flash means that it should never be written-off without good reason. Flash has created a platform for really innovative, entertaining and interesting sites to be constructed and viewed relatively easily. Providing you have the free flash plug-in installed on your system (which 90% of home computers do and is widely available if you don’t).

Flash video

Macromedia recently realised that Flash did not previously utilize video to its full capability. The most up-to-date versions of the software now include full support for the streaming of video and along with Macromedia’s new Flash Communication server, a dedicated server for directly streaming media, video content can now be delivered in real time to provide high quality, fast video downloads. Developers at the forefront of Flash are currently utilizing the Flash Communication server to create video content that was previously impossible using other streaming methods. If you’re really interested in pushing the boundaries of web design to create a site with real impact, video content could be the way forward.

Flash is what you make it

Developers are pushing the limits of flash on a daily basis, challenging what we’ve come to recognise as ‘standard web design’. The sites and designers that really achieve this gain tremendous recognition from both the web browsing public and professionals in the industry. The option and resources are available, its just down to what you want to achieve from your site and how far you are prepared to push for innovation.

If you would like more information about this topic or to discuss what more could be done for your search engine ranking then please get in touch. If you have any feedback or suggestions for a possible topic for an article or would like something made exclusively for you please contact us.