Why I'm Taking This Class / About Me

I am taking this course because I'm interested in learning more about presenting dynamic content on the web. I've been building websites commercially for a few years, some of my recent projects include Move with Grace and Beautiful Decay. I'm particularly interested in learning about providing dynamic content in flash.

Two Websites I Like

Liquid Journey \| www.liquidjourney.com Liquid Journey is a showcase for experimental Flash and Actionscript projects. The site contains examples of flash that takes advantage of 3d, AI, recursion, audio, video, and more. Liquid Journey is particularly useful because the flash source is available to registered users (registration is free), so you can download and see what makes 'em tick.
Newstoday \| www.newstoday.com Newstoday is a forum for designers to share links, keep up on current trends, and talk to their peers. Three different news channels offer a vairety of links, and users can register to post their own findings or to chat in the forum. NT also offers a job posting service, providing job opportunities around the world.

Expressive Type

»Launch Project

PS2 :: Interface | Back to top

Natural Networks

Natural Networks | »Launch Project
Network structures are apparent in many aspects of nature, one example of which being the human body. Different systems that carry nutrients, electrical signals, impulses and chemicals work through out the body much in the same way that data is carried across physical networks.

Network Map

Network Map | »Launch Project
A map of projects submitted for PS1.

Flash Interface

Flash Interface | »Launch Project
A flash interface to navigate through websites. Light the way to find links.

PS3 :: PHP + FORMS | Back to top

Flash, PHP, and HTML

In most cases, Flash is desireable for graphics intensive projects. Since Flash makes use of vector objects, it can deliver data that a browser can render at a fraction of the size of a normal image or video file. Flash is also much more interactive than HTML, and can communicate with servers without user visibilty, allowing for application-style usability.

PHP is better than HTML if you need anything other than pages that never change. PHP allows the server to render documents, meaning that document data can come from databases, files, or other sources. PHP allows for automated updating based on data sources, processing of user-defined data, file uploads, and increased interaction in general.

PHP Unit Conversion

Elizabethan Unit Convertor | »Launch Project
If you're confused about Elizabethan units of measure as used in Shakespeare, the bard himself will tell you what's what, while insulting your intelligence. Shakespeare is like that.

Form Art

Election Choices | »Launch Project
Graphical representation of past US election results using forms objects, and excluding Alaska and Hawaii. When's the last time their vote made a difference, anyway?

PS4 :: Data Visualization | Back to top

The World is Sort of Depressing | »Launch Project
There are lots of poor, hungry people who are crowded into small spaces and who die early. This database application allows you to explore these unhappy facts and see just where each country stands.

PS5 :: Style + Design Exploration | Back to top

Design Exploration | »Launch Project
An examination of the requirements of the final project, and an exploration of stylistic techniques with which to approach said project.

PS6 :: Information Architecture | Back to top

Using Web Characteristics

Given the content that my site is being designed to host, many web characteristics lend themselves to an online article archive, and many do not. This web site will not provide "live" media. While it might be nice for this project to appear on a cell phone or PDA, that's quite honestly something I just don't want to get into right now. The technologies that seem most useful for my web concept involve the multimedia, database, automation, and many-to-many capabilities of the web. I hope to use multimedia in order to make the site more personally engaging--the site will move in reaction to user input, encouraging the user to explore the content. Through the use of a database (maybe XML) driven backend, content to the site will be dynamically generated, allowing for easy additions of new content. By allowing users to comment upon articles, I can also take advantage of the many-to-many aspect of the web (although I probably won't do this if I don't have time). I've decided to use flash for my site in order to make the multimedia experience more seamless, and because it allows for more interesting interaction with the website.

Data flow Visualization

Site Map | »Launch Project
A design for the architecture of my final web project.

Architecture Visualization

Wireframe | »Launch Project
Basic page templates for information presentation.

PS7 :: Design Variations | Back to top

Variations | »Launch Project
Design varitations for my final implementation

PS8 :: Refinement | Back to top
Things accmoplished:
-Set up XML file for research info
-Import XML to flash, formatting text

Things to do: -Everything else

PS9 :: Final Implementation | Back to top

ShrinkySquare v1 | »Launch Project
My final implementation, a website designed to dynamically display content provided by our in-class research reports. Just try to be nice to it.

Research Report :: AJAX | Back to top

AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

AJAX | »Launch Project
An overview and description of AJAX, the technology behind Google Maps. Need I say more?