Archive for April, 2010

Me and the guys from Bureau BlauwGeel have been working together on their new website: http://www.bureaublauwgeel.nl

 

The CMS-based website uses video files to create a dynamic, living and breathing background.

Each menu item has a background image that slowly zooms in to keep that dynamic feel.

 

Although the background and interface always adjust to the size of the browser window, the content is allowed to run off screen. The flash scrollbar allows viewing all content.

By using a custom URL for every project and page in the flash site, the site becomes searchable for Google and allows direct linking to a specific project, for example: http://www.bureaublauwgeel.nl/#/werk/website-en-shop-dutchspirit

Tracking pageviews from flash allows the use of Google Analytics.

The Twitterfountain project has been online for more than 2 years, and has seen many changes. Recently we upgraded to version 2.0, a huge upgrade that has been getting lots of attention. When reading user feedback and watching our Google Analytics, it became clear that the interface could use some clarification, and doesn’t need some of the more complex options.

This inspired me to sketch a new user interface. The new design hasn’t been implemented yet but here’s a preview:

When visiting the homepage, we might present the user with a simple dialog that allows them to customize the homepage immediately, using just a few mouse clicks.
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Selecting sources also becomes easier and more versatile.
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Some advanced options are still available by clicking the ‘more’ tab.
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Sharing becomes a whole lot easier, since you can now just email or tweet a URL to a twitterfountain. Embedding a widget still remains an option.