So as you probably know, I’ve been working on the new Dreamsbay.com for a couple of months now. I’m kicking the development of that into overdrive right now in order to make a more representative online presence (translation: snare more clients). I’ve been looking around at a number of other online portfolios, and there are some really fantastic ones out there. Most of them use Flash, and I’m coming to realize that this will probably be the last iteration of the Dreamsbay site that doesn’t incorporate Flash in some integral way, shape or form. In fact, I was planning on doing the Portfolio section in Flash, but finally opted to use a JavaScript imageswap technique instead to save time. I’m bummed because the technique I’m using wouldn’t allow users to cut and paste the text out of it, or resize it (the text is almost 100% graphics, which rankles me but hey, it’s the way this project is shaking out) – but I suppose accepting this compromise is just one more step towards conceding the HTML field to Flash.
Most of my main gripes about Flash are fading away, actually, as broadband penetration becomes more widespread, a fact driven home by the fact that both of my girlfriend’s sets of parents have cable modems and LAN networks in their houses. (True, both her dad and her stepdad work in computers, but I’m willing to predict that broadband will account for most of the web access within the next couple of years, just as I’m confident in predicting that all PDAs/smartphones will be web-enabled in the same timeframe.) The mondo wait times are disappearing, Macromedia is making concessions to accessibility, CSS support is starting to show up, and Flash is starting to do some wicked cool things with video and application design. I have a back-burner project which might integrate some of those new features, which is cool because it gives me a reason to play. Heh heh.
First, though, the new corporate site has to get done, and these client projects have to get wrapped up, and the Winter 2004 edition has to be finished, and… Whoof. Same old story – never enough hours in the day. Maybe I need an intern, or an editorial staff… Outsource Inkblots’ editorial duties, like Benny boy did with Uber. Any takers?