group94
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- inteliboy0
Well, it sounds like this is all a very subjective thing. Some see the web as maturing, others see it as getting boring. I don't think there is a right or wrong here...
Though I definitely think if you stepped back 5-0 years you'll be severely disappointed with how shit everything looked on the internet.
- formed0
I guess the worst part I see is that there is no differentiation between the low and high ends. Before, you'd see the campaigns as mentioned already, that were full experiences, movies, animations, all customized to be an interactive experience. Some AMAZING creativity combined with great programming (damn, G94 was sooooo smooth!).
Now we get everyone's page looking like a template (more or less). So why would anyone spend much on webdesign? There's nothing worth investing in beyond the grid template, and even then, you might as well just buy a template because even "custom" looks like a template at the end of the day!
I do hope there is some progress. There are glimpses here and there, but it is happening so much slower than even Flash developed way back when.
Oh well, at least WP and such make generic easier and you don't ever have to worry about another company really being 'better'.
- fate0
Remember Parasol Island?
It was an island of their own creation you could explore. Really well done and beautifully animated.
Now their site looks like every other Ca/rgo site:
- Continuity0
'Strikes me that a lot of these beloved grandiose showcase sites from yesteryear indicate more an industry struggling to come to terms with an entirely new medium, rather than a contemporary drop in creativity.'
Not entirely sure about this. You could also interpret it as a sort of Marketing Communication v Tech-Focused Web fight.
For ages, the Web was all about informational websites, without any sort of entertainment value ... Jakob Nielsen's wet dream, really. It was conceived by geeks, run by geeks ('webmasters'!) and the geeks often dismissed the inherent creative possibilities. In those days, one _built_ websites, one didn't _create_ communication concepts using the Web and all of its fun tech as a medium.
Enter the agencies, who have a go at making it entertaining and engaging, and so we get all of those really cool showcase sites.
The problem is, the geeks got to the Web first before the agencies did, and hammered on and on and on about things like low image overhead, usability, grids and all of the things Nielsen's band of Zombie Interweb Gestapo managed to convince the broader internet-using public were Good Things.
The death of Flash is part of that battle, in a sense; Nielsen and his gang of anti-design thugs went on and on about how bad Flash is, and a lot of his old arguments came back as Flash was on its last leg, and Steve Jobs gave it the finger.
So now, it's back to a Web for geeks. WordPressing and Bootstrapping geeks, but geeks all the same. With any luck, technology will develop in such a way that the common platforms can offer something in the way of creative latitude in the same way Flash did.
- detritus0
Strikes me that a lot of these beloved grandiose showcase sites from yesteryear indicate more an industry struggling to come to terms with an entirely new medium, rather than a contemporary drop in creativity.
Also, you lot growing up a little, closing off some of your previously favoured means of discovery and cynically glossing over that which you don't show an interest in.
*shrugs*
- formed0
True, things were advancing to something more functional vs. experimental, but they were still "good".
But things were easier with Flash. You knew it would work on all browsers, now there's no way.
I disagree that people want to follow the mold, though. Our clients want that Flash website from 5 years ago, but there's no way they'll pay for anything similar nowadays. Just too many variables to make it practical to 'try' to create something different/better than the norm.
So I have to educate them that it is just not practical to do anything 'cool' anymore. Not one client is happy they can't do a Flash site, I can assure you that (at least out clients).It is only because of the iPad that our clients don't do Flash websites anymore. And the monopolistic power of Apple has created a market that has no choice or flexibility but to conform.
- Really? No one I talk to wants a Flash website anymorereanimate
- reanimate0
Interesting discussion. I think it's more a case of people following trends than anything. Even before the iPad was released, the trend in the design community was towards minimal, functional sites without Flash.
There is nothing stopping people today from doing experimental work - whether with Flash, HTML5 or some other technology - but people see a certain kind of website and assume they have to follow the mold.
- formed0
Remember Hi-Res? Damn, there stuff is no better now either. Donnie Darko? I loved that the sites were truly an experience, something unpredictable and fun. Now we just have stupid grids everywhere (yeah, yeah, works great for boring crap, I get that).
Firstborn still have their flash site live, thank god, that was a great one too.
Man, this is making me feel nostalgic! If the web were like it is today I surely would have never been interested at all (I left a career as an architect for it). There's nothing to sell a client on, web design wise, anymore. It is just a grid compatible with mobile, that's it. Investments plummet, too, as you can't really do anything interesting, there is no value in spending anything more on online.
- Continuity0
Other memorable campaign microsites (Flash):
- Vodafone Future Vision (North Kingdom — and a major inspiration for me)
- Being Henry (Quite recent, can't remember the agency responsible)
- ONLY The Liberation (Again, North Kingdom, together with Uncle Grey)
- chossy0
Remember the mill used to have a sweet flash site... not now it just looks like all the others, completely forgettable :(
- fate0
DIESEL always had some wild sites. This one is style live, from HiRes
- fate0
- fate0
Absolut always did some incredible campaigns on the web:
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a1.jpg">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a2.jpg">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a3.jpg">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a4b.jpg">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a4c.gif">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a4d.jpg"><img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a4.png">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a5.JPG">
<img src="http://www.evanburke.com/a/a6.png">
- fate0
Just a few more high-profile brands & campaigns from the past:
Lexus Minority Report
Donnie Darko
Xbox live experience
Vodafone Future Visions
DIESEL
Sony's "The Third Place" for PS2And I just looked up another one of my favorites: The beautiful and lush "Forests Forever" site put together by Fuji Film. What a shame to lose that site.
- fate0
- fate0
intelliboy, you sound truly uninformed in this thread.
Companies used to try pulling off campaigns on the web. We have so much more investment in digital now, but the work is lame and nowhere near as creative/cool as it used to be.
Back in 2000-2007, you would see crazy, beautiful stuff from BMW, Diesel, Absolut, Nike....they used the web a place to experiment with their brands.
Nike's Art of Speed
"An extension of the acclaimed nikelab.com, the Nike Art of Speed site presented 15 artists’ renderings of speed. Inspired by the spaceship-like environment of Nike Lab, the gallery guided visitors through a tunnel where they were greeted with an interactive trailer showing all the speed-inspired films. A virtual planetarium showcased the 15 artists’ films on floating movie screens and provided details about their creation. Nike Art of Speed became a destination for people looking to get inspired by art and performance."- Yep, it was an explosion of talent and creativity. Now not so much :( its fucking heartbreaking.chossy
- GeorgesII0
I went through their showcase and they still got solid work,
reading their project synopsis, you see that they are slowly updating their work to html5,ps: site's too dark
- chrisRG0
Chrome is the new Flash
You just need to make clients accept that nice stuff will only work on it.
Also you can always make an App.
- Continuity0
There are a few shops that were awesome, and then totally lost the plot.
Lost Boys — back when they still had their cactus logo and only had their office in Amsterdam — were one of them. Then something about Framfab (which were also cool) and hey presto, we have boring old LBI cranking out boring old stuff.
Meh.
- Thankfully, North Kingdom still silently hang on to awesomeness.Continuity