WS-Slideshow
http://www.ws-slideshow.com/
I've heard of this program before. Its a free program that does an incredible job presenting pictures in clean galleries. This makes it really a no brainer to download, why not try it out if it doesn't even cost you a penny! What also really invites people is the fact that it has a very simple interface...and everyone likes that. You can even go into a fullscreen mode and it works like a slideshow so the user can just sit back and enjoy. I would recommend this for any website designer as a quick and cheap way to effectively display your pictures.
Polaroid Gallery
http://www.no3dfx.com/polaroid/
Polarid Gallery is great because it is very interactive. You can take polaroids and just throw them around and mess with them on a table. Again, very simple interface and very visually pleasing. It is also free and has a great amount of work put into it. You can lay out everything that you want and mess with it. I will definitely do that in my free time if I download this :P
If these two are free, I can only imagine how great ones that cost money are! I want to use something like these in a portfolio or something if I can implement them. I just learned how to do lightboxes so I'm leaning towards that, but theyre similar to the polarid concept.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Week 6 Stuff
YOUTUBE
I think a great example of an effective website is without question, Youtube. Other than google, Youtube is probably the most accessed website available today. It is currently one of the biggest successes in internet history. There is not another user video website that even comes close to touching Youtube.
You get a very interesting package with youtube. It is there for music and entertainment, but also for learning and research. I've looked on the site for academic-oriented purposes and entertainment-oriented purposes. It's available in so many ways and people sometimes remake videos just to get another laugh or two out of it.
The one thing everyone loves about Youtube is the simplicity, there are a few adds here and there, but mostly you see what you need/want. Since the site is simple, it makes the website very organized as well. All one needs to do is type in whatever it may be they are looking for and boom...its there and in a neat fashion. Also when you search for something we see a great example of the F-Shapped Pattern. You can see that most of the items closely resemble the letter F. This is a great technique to keep users on the information and keep them from straying off. Also on the homepage, there are categories of videos. This is nice for a user looking to go on just to waste some time learning about a topic that interests them, maybe science, or modern technology.
It also really helps there there isn't too much text. This keeps the user focused on whatever they're looking for. You can see from the screen shot that the text is actually no where near overwhelming. This site is so clean looking.
I think many people, including myself can learn from Youtube. Their simplicity keeps users focused yet interested. The one thing I've learned (and seen) the most this semester is simplicity. Theres not too much information on the site and it looks so clean and attractive, its no wonder this is one of the biggest sites on the internet today.
I think a great example of an effective website is without question, Youtube. Other than google, Youtube is probably the most accessed website available today. It is currently one of the biggest successes in internet history. There is not another user video website that even comes close to touching Youtube.
You get a very interesting package with youtube. It is there for music and entertainment, but also for learning and research. I've looked on the site for academic-oriented purposes and entertainment-oriented purposes. It's available in so many ways and people sometimes remake videos just to get another laugh or two out of it.
The one thing everyone loves about Youtube is the simplicity, there are a few adds here and there, but mostly you see what you need/want. Since the site is simple, it makes the website very organized as well. All one needs to do is type in whatever it may be they are looking for and boom...its there and in a neat fashion. Also when you search for something we see a great example of the F-Shapped Pattern. You can see that most of the items closely resemble the letter F. This is a great technique to keep users on the information and keep them from straying off. Also on the homepage, there are categories of videos. This is nice for a user looking to go on just to waste some time learning about a topic that interests them, maybe science, or modern technology.
It also really helps there there isn't too much text. This keeps the user focused on whatever they're looking for. You can see from the screen shot that the text is actually no where near overwhelming. This site is so clean looking.
I think many people, including myself can learn from Youtube. Their simplicity keeps users focused yet interested. The one thing I've learned (and seen) the most this semester is simplicity. Theres not too much information on the site and it looks so clean and attractive, its no wonder this is one of the biggest sites on the internet today.
Week 5 Stuff
Immediacy
An example I found of immediacy was the movie "Fight Club". You can't really replicate a movie like "Fight Club". I feel that the film draws in media and people because it literally is one of a kind. No one was expecting a movie like this, this is because of the huge twist towards the end of the movie. The process of this movie was obviously just filming it, but the film makers did a great job, there are many great camera angles in the film, some that make you want to rewind just to see again.
Hyper immediacy
A great example of hyper immediacy is the Marc Ecko Website, marcecko.com. The website looks so interesting at first, but theres just too much to look at. It leaves the user almost dumbfounded, not knowing what to click on first. I didn't find myself, "getting into", the website mentally, I was kind of bored actually and uninterested. The process of the website must have taken a while to complete. I think its a very impressive website in terms of skill, but there is simply too much content. I don't think the site works at all.
Remediation
My remediation idea was to use Grand Theft Auto. If you dont know anything about it, you can find it on my site, http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/zpfreed/projects/250/gta/gta.html. The game is a fantastic form of remediation. It has roots from The Godfather movie series and many other books and media forms. Each game has a unique storyline and each world is based on real places. The most current game, GTA4 is based heavily on a New York City that Rockstar Games created.
Refashioning
There are so many characters that are remade and reused from time to time. Vampires are huge. The Blade series, Teenage Vampire, Nosferatu, all different recreations of vampires. There are so many other references in cartoons, food (Count Chocula, for one), books, and many other forms of media. Underworld uses them as well. Another thing that is reused is the "superhero" model. What I mean is, the freak accident that leads to someone becoming a superhero. Now, the freak accident isn't always a near death experience. Superman was a freak, from another world, while Spiderman was a normal boy that got bit by a mutant spider and almost died. The Fantastic Four were in a space accident and Kick Ass, from the self-titled movie, was just a kid that got bullied a lot.
An example I found of immediacy was the movie "Fight Club". You can't really replicate a movie like "Fight Club". I feel that the film draws in media and people because it literally is one of a kind. No one was expecting a movie like this, this is because of the huge twist towards the end of the movie. The process of this movie was obviously just filming it, but the film makers did a great job, there are many great camera angles in the film, some that make you want to rewind just to see again.
Hyper immediacy
A great example of hyper immediacy is the Marc Ecko Website, marcecko.com. The website looks so interesting at first, but theres just too much to look at. It leaves the user almost dumbfounded, not knowing what to click on first. I didn't find myself, "getting into", the website mentally, I was kind of bored actually and uninterested. The process of the website must have taken a while to complete. I think its a very impressive website in terms of skill, but there is simply too much content. I don't think the site works at all.
Remediation
My remediation idea was to use Grand Theft Auto. If you dont know anything about it, you can find it on my site, http://mywebspace.quinnipiac.edu/zpfreed/projects/250/gta/gta.html. The game is a fantastic form of remediation. It has roots from The Godfather movie series and many other books and media forms. Each game has a unique storyline and each world is based on real places. The most current game, GTA4 is based heavily on a New York City that Rockstar Games created.
Refashioning
There are so many characters that are remade and reused from time to time. Vampires are huge. The Blade series, Teenage Vampire, Nosferatu, all different recreations of vampires. There are so many other references in cartoons, food (Count Chocula, for one), books, and many other forms of media. Underworld uses them as well. Another thing that is reused is the "superhero" model. What I mean is, the freak accident that leads to someone becoming a superhero. Now, the freak accident isn't always a near death experience. Superman was a freak, from another world, while Spiderman was a normal boy that got bit by a mutant spider and almost died. The Fantastic Four were in a space accident and Kick Ass, from the self-titled movie, was just a kid that got bullied a lot.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)