Bad banner – http://whatismae.com/

While I love this band, I must say that their promotional website and their main flash banner is lacking immensely. All there is to it is just the same three rotating images and a few hover links on the bottom with a very simple link hover action. I believe they could have done more with the flash banner, making it more interactive and more visually appealing. We are all learning there is a vast multitude of things you can do with Flash and I think this webmaster used the bare minimum in creating this website.

Good banner – http://www.paramore.net/home

The top banner on this site is more interactive that the Mae banner. It’s more visually appealing and has more going on than just looping images. This site uses the banner to promote their video documentaries for when this band is on tour. To make a user more inclined to click on these videos, they made the video link expand to see more precisely what video it is. It is eye-catching and more user-friendly by making these links accessible right on the homepage banner. There is even a scrolling option so the entire library of video documentaries is right there on the banner.

This weeks review of good and bad banners was quite challenging. First, finding a site that used flash banners aren’t the easiest to find. But once you looked around, finding good ones could be seen in any of the major goods and service providers. The most interesting of these was the SKITTLES website (www.skittles.com) where you are met with not really a website but just a a index/header box asking for your age. Looking into this, you are taken to what seems like a youtube profile page for skittles. Further research into the skittles strategy showed that this header/index page could be found in a number of social networking sites such as twitter (twitter.com/skittles) and that was the extent of the page. This shows how skittles is on the forefront of consumer cooperation. Although the success of the strategy is debateable, it is certainly an interesting way to approach the use of banner/header and a website.

A not so effective banner was the Yamaha site (http://www.global.yamaha.com/index.html). I chose this only because the picture of the piano on the site seemed out of focus and I believe it should atleast be focused. Other than that, it is a simple but effective menu option, and i’m not even sure it counts as a banner other than that, it is the first graphic material on the page.

For my Good Banner, I picked UPS‘s banner because it coveyed its meaning well. The text wasnt scrolled across the banner too quickly but at the same time it coveyed speed. The banner also has 3 links on the bottom, the pictures in the background could be better but overall I believe that this banner has done its job with a decent image and use of text but lacks music or sound clips in the background.

For my Bad Banner, I chose a banner from active ride shops it has a link to buy a transworld magazine. I thought this banner had bad use of colors in the text, and didnt convey the meaning of the magazine. The basics of the link are understood but I believe that this banner could have been greatly improved upon. This is a banner that I would pass right over normally because it is very small and doesnt have anything to pull my attention towards it. It is hidden at the bottom of the page but I guess they dont expect transworld’s magazine link to sell many copies.

G4 tv (good banner)

Upon reaching the homepage one of the first things you see is the large banner on the left side of the page. The purpose of it is to basically allow visitors a chance to view latest news in the gaming and technology world as well as reviews for newly released games. In my opinion it works mainly because it’s one of the first things you see. The design is also pretty good in the sense that it stays true to both the website in general and the television channel.

White Castle (bad banner)

Upon reaching the site we see a banner for craveiscalling.com, which is part of White Castle’s main promotional campaign. The banner doesn’t really do much except link to to a new flash website. In my opinion the banner completely fails as there is no sound, no interaction other then the link, and the image isn’t really that good.

http://www.buzzoffer.com/

This website BuzzOffer has a very simple yet interesting banner that grabs the viewer’s attention. I thought the color was used very well because it was consistent with the rest of the website and was also bright and fun to look at. The texts along with the animated images were also used to catch reader’s attention while explaining a little about the benefits of the website. I liked the way some effects were used to introduce characters or objects into the scene. For instance, the money and falling pennies helped to make the messages more visual and promoted different free offers that the website provides.  

http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/11/apple_sign.php

This is also another eye-catching banner. I thought they used a very creative concept. In this case, Mac was speaking with PC/Vista and asking about the button PC is holding, and PC tried to make all the lights that spell out “Don’t Give Up on Vista” go on but it never worked. On the actual websites this banner was shown, the words were placed on the top of the site’s homepage while the PC and Mac guy were speaking on the lower right corner with no background. I liked this banner ad a lot because it was very different from what a banner usually look like. The design was very simple and straight to the point.  

http://contentmanagementsoftwares.net/flash_banner_designing.htm

This banner is not as effective as the previous ones. Although the visual idea was simple and pretty it did not really deliver the content or the message of the ad. The color choice was good, red was very eye catching but somehow I didn’t think the gift box make sense. I thought the banner would work much better if there was an image of a globe or a phone to represent that’s it’s for international calls. The visuals used didn’t connect with the texts. 

Good Banner

I thought this was an excellent use of a banner for a website. The introduction was eye catching with the truck driving along the road and then the workers come out to tell all what a great cereal they produce. The rest is interactive so the viewer can get to the information needed just by scrolling over a worker. In a way it is like a formal presentation of introducing a new product for the market. Each worker does their part with a little sales pitch and  a click link. The colors of the real world image work well with the background color of the website.

Work in Progress Banner

This banner for Maracas is simply a series of pictures taken in the night club. The surrounding border of the slideshow has a nice texture that meshes with the pictures. I think the designer should have included more pictures in the slideshow and also have numerous effects of changing from one picture to another other than dissolve. One good thing is that music is provided as the slideshow progresses and even if the page is changed within the website.

Princess Cruises’ website has a beautiful banner that can be found here: http://www.princess.com/.  It slowly plays elegant and breathtaking pictures of the cruise line.  There are images of the dining area, the pool, the exterior view of a ship, and many more.  I like it that the banner plays the images at a slow pace so that its viewers can admire the scenes before them.  It gives a feeling of relaxation.  The images are also very sharp and crisp, which make them aesthetically pleasing.  Lastly, I like the interactiveness of the banner.  It allows me to visit other webpages.  It’s also a plus that it replays itself.

On the other hand, Sleepy’s banner is not well made.  It can be found here: http://www.sleepys.com/.  It is very plain and it plays only once.  It sends the message that the price of the mattress is half off, but it does not use flash effectively.  The designer could have conveyed the same message without using flash.  Even though a red color is used, the banner still looks a little dull.  The blue color might look better if it were darker.  Towards the end of the flash animation, the “Twin 2PC Set” and “Full 2PC Set” shrink, but I don’t think it really adds to the advertisement.  The regular prices are also too small at the end of the animation.  It might be better if the designer had made the prices bigger and then crossed them out with a flash application.

Good Banner

I think that the animation banner from Neopets.com is pretty good. This site is a game site targeted for kids and the banners are advertisements targeted for them. The banners are really colorful which attracts the kids a lot. The banner is not really flashy and only a small portion of them it is emphasized (e.g. the cartoon character and the button “play”.  If you put you mouse on top of the banner, the banner will drop down which allows audience that are interested to see more of the ad. I think this is a pretty good way to do the animation banner because its there and you don’t really get annoy over it.

Bad Banner

I thinkthe animation banners on dictionary.com are examples of bad banners because its not that visualize. The banners either have the product there and then have words sliding across or the product zipping acorss the banner and then the prices come out and then stop. I think that this type of banner is really common and commercial. It doesn’t catches the users’ eyes, thus making them want to look into the banner and learn more about it.

Good banner

This modern banner is found on a portfolio site. The loading screen is simple but interesting. This is an interactive banner so there are instructions during the loading process that explains.

When it’s finished loading, an image appears. You can zoom in on the image, zoom out, move it around, and show outlines. I thought this was pretty interesting. This banner is a nice preview to what we can expect to see in this portfolio site. The zoom in feature is my favorite. Banners are usually small in size so the content within the banner might be too small. Letting the user interact and zoom in on details is a nice touch.

Bad banner

Ad for Newfoundland Labrador Canada

This ad has terrible animation. It’s just a photo of the coastline for the background. Then there’s a separate image of two people walking across the coastline. The way they walk is very jagged and not smooth. It looks awkward. They start off really small on the left side of the banner. Then they start walking to the right and get larger (image1). When they are near the far right, their heads turns sideways and gives us a big smile (image2) then walks away and disappears. At the very last frame, the logo appears.  I did not think this was a very good advertisement.

http://www.luckymag.com/

On the home page of the “Lucky” magazine’s online publishing there is an ad that invites you to sign up for the “Self Challenge”. This ad in my opinion is very well done with the use of movement in the rotation of the petal like shapes with the “wishes” of the participants and also how the petals took on the form of a butterfly and flew off. The use of the background picture of a beach was kind of “cheezy” but still the colours were interesting and captivating. The font they used was readable and “fun” and the colour being hot pink would make people pay more attention to it.

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/

On the home page of the online version of “In Style” magazine there is a banner ad that claims it can help you find your perfect celebrity haistyle. This ad to me is very boring with just a stark white background and the quality of the photos used are poor. Even though I know they used the red and white to keep with the theme of the magazine I think they could have jazzed up the ad a little bit to make it a bit more eye catching.

Good banner:

I received an invitation to a party by email, and when I went to the website, I found the ooVoo banner in the middle. I like this banner. I think it is very clean and attractive, and it actually made me click on it. When I clicked on it I was transferred to the company’s website. I have noticed that the banner is designed with the same concept of the website – clean, same colors, and fonts. It also made me download the program and try it. I think a good banner is a banner that conveys a message simply and makes you curious. This banner made me curious to see what ooVoo is all about and even click on it. I think this company did a good job attracting people to the banner and to download the program.  Also I think it fits the website where it is located. The website also has a pretty clean design, and the banner’s colors and website fit together. I also like the banner’s location; it separates the invitation from the RSVP form.

Bad banner:

In the USA Today website, there’s a small Sprint banner. The colors work, but I don’t think the banner works in general.  The cards with the text on are disappearing too fast, so it’s hard to read. Also I don’t like the fact that the banner is not in a loop, because if I go to another window that is open in my browser and get back all I see is the text, and it doesn’t attract me to read it and find out what it’s about. The good thing about it is that it is consistent with the Sprint website. Also it is located on the left side of the website and is pretty small, so it’s hard to notice it. I think a bad banner doesn’t necessarily have to be designed badly, but if it’s not attracting you, and make you click it, it loses its purpose.

The Hallmark website for Free E-Cards, Photo Cards, Greeting Cards, and many other categories of cards has a banner on its front page where you are able to choose the type of card that you are looking for. When you scroll over the card categories you are able to see a preview and what you will expect if you clicked on that category. The banner is very colorful and has nice images but if compared to the banner for the Barnes and Noble website, it is not as interesting and fun to look at. The banner for the Barnes and Noble website is a great banner showing Barnes and Noble’s “Picks of the Week.” The images of the items scroll along the banner and fade away as it reaches the end. When you scroll over the items with your cursor, the moving banner stops and information for the item, such as item name and price, pops up. I think the banner was very nicely done. It is creative, looks very professional, and fits in with the rest of the website.

Good Header: People.com has an amazing banner ad of the Apple iPod Touch. I love how it goes “outside the box” and uses both audio and visual to make this appealing. I want to buy an iPod touch just because this ad is so awesome!

Bad Header: Staying in the same genre of websites, Us Weekly’s site has such a plain looking banner ad on their website. It’s harder to even notice because it’s smaller and the lack of sound makes the ad less appealing to  me.

The flash header on the NBA store’s website, located on 5th Ave., is an example of a good flash header. The images are clear. The timing of the transitions are good. There’s also a pause button on the bottom right corner if your head starts to spin while looking at the images play itself over and over again. Also, you can choose to look through or stop looking at the pictures being presented in the flash header.

On the other hand, the header for NFL’s website, is just plain boring. There is movement, but just a few frames in the timeline. It’s stiff and doesn’t do much, except show the vibration symbols that come out slow. The site’s awesome to track scores, but the header’s very boring.

Bad example: http://www.brillpublications.com/

Good example: Http://www.mtv.com

Brill Publications is horrible and bland, and the focus of the flash is out of place. There is a video that plays in the begining and you hardly notice it because of everything else that is going on in the website.

The MTV website I feel was an excellent use of flash because the site itself is very loud, and the flash banner streamlines the viewers attention to what is most important, which is the breaking news, etc.

http://cmonwealth.com/

This is an online clothing shop with a flash banner that includes brands and previews of new items. Customer just visiting the site can get a look at some of the new items before even clicking on any link. This is successful in catching the viewers attention and interest if there is something they like. The banner changes when you refresh the page. The images also repeats itself so if a viewer missed it, they would be able to see it again with just a click on the refresh button.

http://powerfromsun.com/

I feel that this website flash banner isn’t designed too well. The banner only has the site’s name and a short sentence with a funky background of the sun rays spiraling. The spiraling isn’t too bad but I felt there should have been more elements included. I would like to see something that could catch my eyes rather then the name of the website in the banner. The flash banner isn’t very interestingeither. It would be more interesting to have multiple interface in the banner change while you navigate through the pages. Besides that the sun animation is done fairly well.

While browsing, I stumbled upon http://www.holdsworthdesign.com/ which has an excellent header design, both interactive and aesthetic. The header lays out all necessary links for the user. There is thorough thought put into the design of the website, and it goes beyond the typical columns and hex colors. Unlike the examples below, HoldsWorthDesign’s website composition uses the flash header to benefit the user and the boost the html layout itself.

http://www.uniqlo.com/us/ has a very uniform, simple and practical use of a flash banner. Upon clicking the “Swap Image” control, we can observe the latest outfits and trends of the brand. It is not overwhelming and compliments the rest of the website design. It is slightly plain and does nothing to boost the simple html format.

http://toytokyo.com/ is another example of a mediocre/poor use of a flash banner. It is practical and well designed with coordinating illustrations but fails to fit in with the website itself primarily due to the use of different gray hues, the banner seems to be a cooler gray whereas the website modules are of a warmer gray. This is a case where the web master may have decided that having a good looking banner is an excuse to stray from designing the rest of the site.

There are two wedding flash banners that I think one working extremely well and the other one still need work in progress. The one that work successfully is Disney Weddings because this banner contains many elements for wedding couples to plan their wedding with different categories listed one side. The other side shows a flash movie with background music, and text were included to introduce how Disney is going to help the couple to plan there wedding day. In which, I feel Disney has a very strong concept to promote their wedding planning. Meanwhile, the banner in Your Wedding Day Online can be work on a little more because I think they can add a background music with an on and off button. At the same time, I think this magazine company should include a little message or a catch line in the other side of the logo. This way, people will know a bit more of what this banner is advertising. Most of all, a successful banner should be eye catching and state its purpose out just like Disney Weddings because this is the first thing people see when they visit your website.

Good Flash

Bad Flash

I found both these banners and in comparison, I believe, one works well while the other one still needs work. A flash banner works well if it: conveys its main point and is done in a clear and appealing manner. What works poorly is if the effort put into making the flash banner is conveyed more so than the original intent for its purpose. The cartoon smart banner is a good banner because it clearly gets across its point of advertisement in a neat, sharp and fun way. There isn’t a lot going on at one time. Its modern taste brings in the business aspect that it represents while still including a cartoon animation that depicts it’s versatility. that. The actual banners website, http://www.cartoonsmart.com/, has a slight different style to it than the the banner itself, but it works. The second banner isn’t so much a good one because it shows little effort. If the banner is to advertise what it displays, what is displayed should be made perfect or made to seem perfect. The photos used in the second banner of the couches aren’t clear enough–they are a bit ‘bitmappy.’ A Good banner wouldn’t include fuzzy picture but sharp, appealing ones that draw its audience to desire it. Also the layout it is pretty cool, but if the layout is more of the focus than the product itself it is a very successful banner–it is a banner that failed to do its purpose.

For this week’s blogging, post links to two sites that have a Flash-based banner. One site should have a banner that works well; the other should have a banner that works poorly.

Provide at least one complete paragraph with your analysis of the examples. In your analysis, be sure to tell us what you define as “works well” and “works poorly”. Make reference to the banner’s design, content, and purpose as well as to the overall site’s design, content, and purpose.  Support your ideas with concrete examples. Correct English grammar, spelling, etc. are required.

Also, choose one other person’s post and leave comments on the sites they’ve chosen. In your comments, provide a complete paragraph with your own ideas and insights about the posted example. Express and support your ideas in your own words, using correct English syntax.