Here is a lab I did in class today, it is a very basic proof of concept. The concept I am proving? That you can upload an image to my server using a Flash interface. Pretty easy, yet bursting with possibilities!

Marketing is a huge part of our culture, you get ads on television, radio, in the mail, on billboards, even in the sky. It’s inevitable it would find its way to the Internet as well. But the key difference is how easily interactive the advertisements are online. Banner ads do not have to simply be magazine ads (although there a plenty that just show attractive people using products online too). With a little code they transform banners on pages into experiences where you could do anything from shoot a duck, participate in trivia, to control a dirt bike. This is powerful, as the user is more immersed, more likely to remember the product, or at least visit your web site.

But a constant flow of absurd ideas and no substance can lead to the ignoring of banner ads completely. Too much attention-grabbing becomes annoyance real fast. Ads do not need to flash repeatedly that I’m a winner, nobody gives away prizes for being the 1,457,023rd person to click past their ad. The banners that take over your screen and need to be closed before viewing the web site removes enjoyment from my web browsing process, and I can begin to associate that with the product. Or the constant trick ads: after you know that you’d have to sign up for 5 credit cards in order to get a “free” iPod Nano you NEVER want to visit one of those sites again. And yet they appear all over the web, announcing their presence through your speakers, with all four embedded on the page playing their audio at once.

It is little wonder that the average click-through rate is around 0.5%. People begin to tune these banner ads out, even the less Net-savy grandmothers who clicked on them in the beginning learn to stay away. There is a better way: web sites about products actually provide information to potential consumers, create a memorable experience in their mind, and increase your product’s recognition. People visiting a web site are much less likely to feel cheated or tricked because they could have found it searching the web or heard from another source that it is a good web site to visit. And what a great way to advertise your product: to have a web site that a person likes so much that they tell people (as someone they can trust) that they should also check it out. It is hard to imagine a nicer way of advertising than spreading around your concept virally without the cost of a multi-media ad campaign, and through a growing and impassioned fan base.

And in the future hopefully web sites will grow even more immersing, utilizing new technology that stimulates more senses. Imagine a little box next to your computer emitting a web site-related smell, or wearing virtual reality gloves that can change temperature and textures inside on your hands. Or in the distant future after we outgrow advertisements completely and start getting chips implanted in our brains that manipulate our emotions even more precisely and efficiently. Then “You could win a free iPod Ultimatron” could be your own inner voice (playing four times at once).

You can vote and see ratings now! Oh, and you can sort them!

Now we’re getting into the 360 views that the class title “QTVR” promises. I went to take pictures of water falls at Stony Brook about 40 minutes away with Pat. Be sure to check his out as they are extremely cool! Below are just my images. I’ll be sure to get back to you when I have them in Flash interfaces next week.

The assignment for project 2 was to make a photo montage. It should reveal many sides of a subject. I chose as my subject squirrels. But my interpretation are that they are a bit parasitic. You see, my neighborhood in Rochester is becoming overrun by squirrels. They are constantly on yards, in trees, and far too often: in trash cans. Every green plastic barrel seems to have a squirrel-sized hole chewed into it. Maybe we’re being overrun by clever hungry squirrels… but the point is they’re everywhere!

Making progress!

While on the prowl for good design in the form of sorting long lists I did not have to travel too far.

I love the way they made iTunes look. In particular how they separate items with a light color and the way it could scale up or down with no problem.

Here is the new and improved design of project 1, in which the list of movies is much more prominent and less space is wasted. The interface is simplified, and you can see all the options on one page without having to click through.

Did you guess correctly? Project 1 was a series about connections.

I’m taking a digital photography class this quarter called QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR) which does not use QuickTime at all, as it is an out-of-date technology. But still, we use Flash and it does the same sort of simulation. I didn’t realize I wanted a break from things so badly, but now that I have the opportunity to get out and take photographs it feels great!

Here are the results of project 1: three photographs with a theme. Can you figure out the theme? I’ll post tomorrow with the answer.