To keep our clients and friends informed on the latest trends, we periodically write articles discussing various topics in the graphics and Mac community. All of these are made available through our website and are listed below.
2003 Macromedia Flash: An Introduction to the Technology ·
Print Version (PDF)
M.D. Rowland
By high tech standards, Flash is old news. The Flash technology has been around in one format or another since the mid 1990s. In spite
of the fact that the average user has been viewing Flash content for several years, the population as a whole is still underinformed about
this technology. Web design has a rich history. Traditional web developers will benefit from a technical examination of Flash.
2003 Web Design Planning for Flash Designers ·
Print Version (PDF)
M.D. Rowland
Proper planning before beginning to design a website is a necessary step to ensure desired outcomes. Unfortunately, beginning
designers lack the experience to properly plan out a web project while seasoned veterans of web design often regard these steps
as unnecessary. This paper provides a thorough planning paradigm which will be helpful for both beginning and experienced web
designers.
2003 Typesetting with Flash MX ·
Print Version (PDF)
M.D. Rowland
A common misnomer states that there are only two fonts on the web: Times New Roman and Arial. While it is true that web designers often
select their typefaces from a set of de facto standards, there are many sophisticated ways to practice the art of typography on web projects.
Web designers must not ignore type. Even though there are significantly fewer years of historical examples to draw on, digital type should be
approached with the same careful attention to detail as traditional type. This paper will strive to answer the question: how can web designers
using Macromedia Flash produce legible, credible, and beautiful type in their projects?
2003 Using Pixel Fonts in Flash MX ·
Print Version (PDF)
M.D. Rowland
Pixel Fonts are fonts that are specifically designed to be used
with Flash. Because Flash anti-aliases all embedded font data,
type set at smaller sizes tends to be hard to read due to the
blurriness of the anti-aliased edges. The alternative to blurry type
is orthochromatic type using one of only a handful of common
fonts like Verdana or Times New Roman. Flash designers want
access to other fonts besides the universal web fonts, but they
also want their type to be legible at smaller sizes. One solution
to this problem is pixel-based fonts.
2003 Jacob Nielsen: Is He Missing The Point? ·
Print Version (PDF)
M.D. Rowland - A.K.A. Multimedia Designer's Roundtable
In his famous article, "Flash, 99% Bad," Jacob Nielsen makes the
claim that more often than not, Flash undermines the usability
of a site. While it's true that many Flash sites have user interface
problems that make them all but unusable, is it fair to generalize
that almost all of the Flash sites in existence "...constitute a
usability disease?" Is Dr. Nielsen mistakenly finding fault with the
Flash technology when many other sites that don't use Flash at all
have the same usability problems? Or is it possible that Dr. Nielsen
is too old-fashioned to recognize and understand how the Flash
movement is fostering a new generation of interaive designers and
user interface designers who don't like to think inside the box or
follow conventions and standards?
1/2/2002 MacShowLive on an iPod ·
The iPod is a great, portable audio player. With tremendous battery life and exceptional capacity it
allows you to listen to audio almost anywhere. However, while it does a great job with the MP3 and uncompressed AIFF
audio formats, it lacks support for many of the compressed QuickTime formats. Any iPod owners who want to listen
their favorite internet audio files are out of luck... or are they? Read More
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