A common entry you see on many web design blogs is the one where people are looking for inspiration when getting ready to tackle a new design. While I don't advise looking at other sites before you begin to design your own, for some people this works really well. What I never see though is people recommending any Flash sites to look at. I wonder if most CSS/XHTML designers still hold a grudge (or whatever you wish to call it) against Flash sites because many of them still are nightmarish to say the least.
For example I love to look at 2advanced or Joshua Davis from an information design perspective (along with a visual design perspective) and see how I can learn from them. Granted most Flash sites I come across serve absolutely no purpose on the web, but I think if more designers open their minds to checking out the good ones then their designer inspiration toolbox will become that much more valuable.
Posted by Scrivs at April 8, 2005 01:41 PM
#1 | Bryan (http://www.majorchampionships.com)
2advanced.com is absolutely amazing, but I couldn't stand going to it everyday. Just too much loading and too much going on. I feel like I am in a game more then a website, but those people are great at what they do.
#2 | Manoloweb (http://www.ideasfreelance.com)
I actually use flash and regular HTML sites as inspiration for XHTML+CSS projects, but what I do is to have one day a week as inspirational break.
Inspirational Friday
1.- First thing in the morning I go to all standards showcases I know (stylegala, cssvault, cssbeauty, camaleoncss, unmatchedstyle, etc), and check all new designs, and I actually dig into the related sites to see all internal pages.
2.- Then I go to Flashkit.com/sites to see what the flashers have to show.
3.- Once that is done I go to some bigones' sites and see what's new there.
4.- Every once in a while I pick a couple of good sites and search the archive.org, just to see how they evolved into their new design.
5.- Sometimes I might even stop at some templates sites and see the trends there too.
During the whole proccess I try to keep my photoshop open, just as an sketch pad to try those effects I see that I like.
At the end of the day I close everything and go to sleep. And for sure some ideas start to grow in my mind.
;-)
#3 | Mat (http://www.mrpatto.com)
Haven't you seen the bazillions of design galleries that are filled with flash sites for inspiration? Maybe not so much in the "css world", but there is no shortage of people talking flash.
Check out Coolhomepages or similar.
#4 | Peter (http://4-ever.org/)
I like the Joshua Davis site because I can access it! I am on dial-up and 95% of Flash sites are just too slow for me to download. I wish more Flash designers would take dial-up users into account with better indication of size and speed. Many sites could probably be redesigned and be just as graphically good but be faster. There are tons of flash sites at Linkage. The thumbnails often look great but most sites are seriously exclusive. But could be good external inspiration for many of you.
#5 | Scrivs (http://9rules.com/)
Mat, of course I am aware of the millions of Flash design galleries, but I just never see flash designed sites mentioned on CSS designer's blogs that much. That was my point.
#6 | Sunshine
slightly related...
Didn't you at one point collect a list of beloved flash sites from your readers for some purpose I've since forgotten (or possibly never knew). Whatever happened to that project?
#7 | Phobea
I find Flash sites to be just as useful as non-Flash sites. I certainly don't see a seperation when it comes to purpose. To a large portion of web users, the countless number of websites dedicated to CSS might seem lacking in purpose. It's all in the eye of the beholder.
But most importantly it's in the eye of the client, or the paying customer, and I'm yet to find a client that has come to me requesting standards compliance, or beautifully hand-coded CSS... I'm sure they exist, but they're few and far-between. Most of them just see a Flash site they like and say "I want one like that one!"
So yes, definately, when it comes to Flash sites and inspiration, they are at the absolute top of my list.
#9 | James
I find the work of group94 particularly inspirational for html/css based work. They have a great attention to detail, especially for navigation and usability
I also admire 2Advanced but totally agree with Brian. One of the reasons I come back to whitespace regularly and visit g94 almost daily for updates is that the interface isn't busy or intimidating.
#10 | mstyle (http://www.mstyle.nl/)
I think if one would not look at flash websites just because they are build in flash its just being plain shallow. Maybe even robbing yourself of a positive experience as mentioned in the post.
You will never know when you get influenced by a site. Maybe it's even a bad flash site that gives you a clue on how not to do it, or which has a feature that -although the overal bad workout- might work gor you.
You can never tell when or where inspiration will hit you.
Be inspired, get inspired, but most of all, try to make wahtever you find your own, twist it, turn it and let the outcome be yours. And heck, maybe some parts of your outcome may inspires someone else.
Let's not have a mac-win kind of battle, it would be plain silly, especially in a community of creative and 'open minded' people.
If people would have stayed shallowed we would still be baking eggs on campfires. :)
#11 | Scrivs (http://9rules.com/)
Good words indeed mstyle. Problem is I know a lot of people who just like to have arguments around for arguments sake. Those are the real losers here.
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