College Portfolio - First attempt at Flash

[reynoljg]

http://webpages.charter.net/reynoljg/folio/

This would be my first real Flash attempt. I am making a portfolio for my college applications to Parsons, UAT, and a few others. I would like any constructive critisism or critiques on the layout, graphics, etc. I am going for techy-gore look. Grunge, I suppose? I have to customize the scrollbar and such yet, so try not to pick on that so much. Also, it seems to scroll even when there is no text. Whoops.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for what I could do to bring more character to the polaroids? I haven't finished the handwriting animation I am doing on them to label them, but I am still drawing a blank on how to animate them on mouseover or clicks. Should I even bother doing that? A film grain effect inside the polaroid, perhaps?

Speaking of which, would it look too tacky to add a film grain effect the the whole of the project?


Thanks in advance, folks ^_^
jason

[Jasninder]

ok i just saw the interface

* why do u have grunge theme with blood stains allover ur personal portfolio...i wouldt do that if i was applying..dont knwo ur work or what inspires u..so i am hoping ur doing it and also the fact tht ur target audience/clients are gona like it.

* graphics look neat and i like em...i'd like to see one side flip of the poloriod pic on mouse over..

* just centralized the page to any resolution..its a bit on to the left corner for me at 1280 X 1024 resolutions

* are u planning to use any background image? if not i'd suggest u do

It looks good, best of luck :thumb:

[reynoljg]

Thanks Jasninder!

My theory behind going with the blood is of an more in your face type of layout. I'm applying to a number of schools that advocate experimenting and designing stuff that grabs attention. I am also trying to stay away from severe trendiness. Albeit, my layout is a number of past and even current trends combined, it is a bit more ostentacious than most. My other theme was 3D squares and pixel art. Tell me which would grab your attention first. :rabbit:

I like the idea on the polaroids. I'll see how well I can impliment that. I'm just starting out, so I am not entirely sure if I know how to do that.

I'm not sure how I should do a background for the site without over powering it too much. I'm sure basic pixel patterns would be fine, but would it look sort of out of place with the dashed line border? I'll see what I can whip up.

Finally, what is the HTML to center something indefinitely? I've used all of the align:middle, align="middle", align="center", <center>, etc., to no avail. I had to position it via rocky html. Please illuminate me on how to do this.


Thanks again!
jason

[trundrumbalind]

Change the font and center align the percentage under the preloader bar

[reynoljg]

Change the font and center align the percentage under the preloader bar

Thanks. It actually is centered, but it appears uncentered before it hits 100%. I'll tweak it.

Verdana is my font in the folio. Is there one that works well in flash besides that that would give more character? I am aware of FFF but I don't have the money to blow on fonts, you know?


Thanks again :)

[Ryall]

Verdana is my font in the folio. Is there one that works well in flash besides that that would give more character? I am aware of FFF but I don't have the money to blow on fonts, you know?

There are sites out there with freeware pixel fonts for Flash, just do a search. ;)

Peace

[reynoljg]

FlashKit, yeah, I forgot about that one. If anyone is interested, I found this one too; http://www.bestflashanimationsite.com/pixel-fonts/

[Ryall]

Sweet, :thumb:
keep looking too... there are better ones as well ;)

[hl]

well, maybe some transitions and rollovers would be good, i know it is your first one, but sometimes these make it a bit smoother, lighter on the eyes, and make them kick *** most of the time

[reynoljg]

I'm honestly not sure how to animate that stuff. I'd like to have the text window be animated in some way when you click on a button, but even if I can figure out an interesting way to do it, I don't know -how- to do it. I'm still working on something neato for the polaroids. :)

[simplistik]

Hmm... well... first thing I noticed was well the blood and gorey theme goin on... the second thing I noticed was the girly font up at the top... hmmmmmm... lets think about that one :puzzle:

I understand that you want something to pop in your face, but if I was a school and as an employer, i would see this and think that you're one disturbed person. Now, I'm not saying that dark grungy sites mean that for everyone. Your site doesn't seem to pull itself together.

Maybe doing a room like theme would be better, blood on the ground polaroids on the ground, dingy lighting effects etc. Or just a crinkled paper background, stained. The harsh white almost negates the dark effect.

I think the polariod thing is a good idea, but I think it's be more effective say if they were laying on a ground, and when you hover over them them pop up to the front, something of that nature.

As for a background, use a solid black, or if you want texture a crackled wall look.

The dotted/rounded line isn't the right way to go w/ that either. Curves show softer, flowing, more casual. Sharp edges show tension, aggressiveness, hardness, or high tech. I would change it to just a rectangle.

Some examples of what you're tryin to do (in my mind) would be:
http://www.slayerment.com/splash.htm
http://www.unfortunateeventsmovie.com
http://www.realvast.com/
http://www.darkwatch.com/#
http://www.karlaweb.tk/ <---[one of my personal favs]

That's my .05

[reynoljg]

Thanks simplistik. Your comments are right on the nose, actually. Those websites are almost all exactly what I am going for, too... but alas, I have only one week left to finish this project and I am an absolute beginner at Flash. What you see is the extent of what I can do at this moment in time. I know how I could do them, per se, but I don't have the ability to. Such as, I don't have access to 3D software, and even if I did, I have no idea hwo to use it effecively. It's all really very much so a pain in my neck :(

I'll see about reworking the layout, though. Now that I'e gotten the pieces together and know how to reconstruct it, it shouldn't be too difficult. I don't see myself adding too much beyond the basics simply for the fact that I don't know how to. ARG! I wish I had more time. So many ideas and no time to learn how to work them out.


Thanks a ton for your imput, everyone. Keep em comin! :)

[Jasninder]

exactly as simplistik said ^

makes u look like a sick person with blood stains allover the place + if u have poloroid pics..even worst a psycho killer who traces out his target, keep their fotographs and then go on killing them :lol:

[reynoljg]

Jesus christ guys, do you want to alert the feds of me? Just comment on my portfolio and not my personal life. You're going ot get me in trouble. Yeesh!



;-)

[Jasninder]

evil is coming out on ur webpage man..what can i do:P
its in my face :lol:

kiddin