website created by: kevin e. brooks | email kevin at: kbrooks2@bsu.edu | updated: 17 May 2006
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Project Plan: Student Life Banner |
Student Life Banner (SWF) After attempting something TOO ambitious for Flashlight 5, I thought I would simplify for the final project and tackle a more straightforward “makeover” of a web component: a flash banner for promoting student life on campus. Part of the plan of the Dean of the Libraries at Ball State U. involves moving the libraries more into the mainstream of campus life. He wants to make the libraries second only to the student center for meeting and “hanging out” and second only to the classroom for learning. This banner would be useful in that endeavor. I had not tried any true masking before now and wanted to integrate it into something that might be useful. So, I used a mask layer along with motion tweens and a timeline effect (ie blur) on the text. I also pulled some graphics from the Ball State website and photo repository to use in the banner. While there is no “student life” page yet at Ball State, the Libraries have developed a “Student Virtual Library” web page and so I made the BSU logo a button that links to the SVL. I made as many of the graphics and layers accessible by editing the accessibility information through the properties inspector. Perhaps I could have done more animation overall and even incorporated video into the banner. Getting the mask layers to work and figuring out where to put the motion tweens was a bit problematic for me. A banner often adds a air of professionalism and validity to any website. Having a banner with moving graphics that display can help tell a story and lend a depth to any logo that regular flat or 2D logos do not have. If done correctly, a logo can become symbolic of the thing it represents like the Nike swoosh or the NBC peacock. A flash banner can help do the same thing online. Engaging the younger students means engaging them online where they spend a lot of their time. It also means using Flash because it provides the power to create animation and interactivity to the broadest number of people because Flash is not browser dependent. |
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website created by: kevin e. brooks | email kevin at: kbrooks2@bsu.edu | updated: 17 May 2006 |
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