Alan,
I've lately come around to the idea that designers' sites can still be
effective in Flash. Most of us don't really need to worry about SEO
since we're getting business though referrals, not cold visits, and it
does give you a chance to show off a little more.
But what I disagree with is a Flash introduction that has no
relationship to the rest of the site. Especially if all it does is
animate your name or some goofy tagline or waste my time loading the
navigation in a sexy way. If you have a strong concept for the site
and your Flash intro reinforces that concept in an extremely effective
way, that is cool. And rare.
Most people coming to my site are just idle visitors or people who got
there by mistake. I don't care about them. The people I do care about
are qualified referrals -- people who heard about me from a friend or
business associate. These are folks who need a designer and are
checking the site to vet me before making a call. All my site needs to
do is convince them to call me. (Insert caveats about the lame-ass
state of my current website here...)
I'm guessing a snazzy Flash intro will convince the people who want
one for THEIR site. But everyone else is going to be wondering, "Yeah,
but has he got any experience designing for MY type of project?" My
advice: skip the eye candy and cut to the chase. After all, isn't that
what you'd advise clients to do?
On May 21, 2008, at 9:32 AM, Alan Wexelblat wrote:
Let's assume that you've done the proper work to provide a "Skip
Intro" button. Let's further assume that you've done at least the
minimum to make your content accessible to people without the Flash
player.
The question I ask, then, is: does having a Flash intro to a personal
site, which may include one's portfolio or resume, make sense in
today's job market and design environment? Or does this brand the
designer as someone stuck in the last decade?
As usual, I suspect the answer is "it depends"; what I'm really
interested in is exploring issues around how we present ourselves in
online presences and the Flash-intro or Flash-site is a method I still
see from time to time, though not nearly as much as I used to.
Best regards,
--Alan
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