SEO and Analytics Friendly Flash
Here’s a little exercise for you to try sometime. Go to your search engine of choice and do a look up for “Top Reasons Not to Use Flash.” You’ll see plenty of results, but it is mostly the same 2 or 3 lists repeated and regurgitated over and over again from blog to blog. Half of the concerns are typically not related to Flash the tool, but to poor design or programming skills or just laziness on the part of the designers and developers not adhering to best practices.  Another common concern is usability, a very serious issue that needs to be carefully considered based on your target audience.  Part of this can be handled with proper design and programming; the res

The Perils of Text-Only Emails: Why Gap.com’s Email Went Right into the Trash
I received an email in my inbox yesterday that surprised me. It was from Gap.com advertising an “Extra 25% Off for a Limited Time Only”. I have been on Gap.com’s mailing list for quite some time (as well as the lists from

Interactive Design – The Long View (Part 1)
With the advent of new input devices like multi-touch technology, interactive designers are going to have to start looking beyond designing point-and-click interfaces. To do this, we will need a broader perspective when approaching interactive design. This will be a two-part blog post. Part 1 will explore the limits of interactive design. What is interactive design? Interactive Design may seem like a modern invention. I mean, computers have only been around for 60 years or so and graphical user interfaces (GUI’s) for only about 30 years. But when you think about it, humans have been interacting with machines for centuries.

What’s so special about Flash?
It’s no secret that clients want to get the most bang for their buck, and banners with animation are a great way to grab attention. However, when it comes down to the two options we offer – animated .gif or Flash – things become a little complicated. What’s the difference between the two file types? Which one is better? Why the price difference? Animated .gifs and Flash are similar in the fact that each can provide animation in a banner; however,

How a Well Thought-Out Image Can Affect Your Message
A solid piece of advertising, at it’s most minimal, is comprised of imagery and text. These two elements work together to form a strong and vital message that speaks to the viewer and makes them believe in whatever the ad happens to be selling. That sounds simple enough, but about that image — how exactly does one determine what type of image will be the most effective for your creative? For one take on this topic, I looked to one of my favorite “textbooks” from college — Understanding Comics by Scott Mc