The Creative Garden

November 25th, 2006

This weekend I will spend pulling The Creative Garden website into presentable shape and form, while writing the basic textual content.

The Creative Garden Company

XHTML and Flash

November 7th, 2006

An important part of our idat205 Creative Industries company was our use of flash in highly accessible and web standards compliant sites. Even though this was a feature of last year’s idat102 module with Dan Efergan and good website technique, I found myself put off by it all, especially favouring methods that didn’t involve anyone else’s code. Then the odd ‘Click to activate and use this control’ boxes appeared in microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and flash had to just not be used for anything important at all.

Flash under the ‘Click to activate and use this control’

However, I have discovered it really is easier to implement flash successfully than it seems.
So here’s how to do it:

Download the Script

Download the .js javascript file from http://blog.deconcept.com/swfobject/ (site is found very easily with google). Store it somewhere where your flash pages can find it.

Embed the Script

Embed the file within your page
(<script type="text/javascript" src="./swfobject.js"> </script>)

In addition I would place this above any CSS embed scripts it will get rid of the ‘FOUC’ problems discussed in
http://www.bluerobot.com/web/css/fouc.asp.

Embed your Flash File

Finally, you create a <div> of flash alternative content, which is written over if flash is available, like so:

<div id="website_menu">
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
// <![CDATA[
var so = new SWFObject("./flash.swf", "flash", "300", "100", "8", "#ffffff");
so.write("website_menu");
// ]]>
</script>

And that is that, the page is XHTML compliant with regards to embedding the flash and IE doesn’t stop the content from interacting. For a list of reasons why this method is good, read more into the swfobject script blog site.

Update:

I’d say the basic parameters are pretty obvious (source,title,width,height,flash version and BG colour) but since this post and after a little experimentation its possible to do a rather lot more using ‘addParam’. For example setting the WMODE to something other than the defaults.

Lots of work… all at once!

October 25th, 2006

Not a great amount of time has been available for blogging so here is an update:

soft221

In addition to the current projects with rapidly approaching deadlines we have been introduced to a small mid-term exam from soft221. Marvellous stuff.

HCI

HCI (Human Computer Interaction or isad223) will be wanting coursework done by the end of this term, involving the creation of an interface based on the design techniques learnt here. That would be a four thousand word essay comprising 100% of the overall mark for this module.

Simulacrum 3D Video

Simulacrum (trans-spacial design) admittedly has been in the pipeline for a while but at least there are a number of thoughts as to an idea (I like this project as its the first that asks for a reasonable amount of creativity from my part - yes thats not f*ing actionscripting aka java) if not much to show for it yet. I have effectively what I want to create planned out already, but more of that to be revealed soon…

Critical Contexts

Idat203 - Critical Contexts, what else can be said? The ‘other’ four thousand word essay comes to mind.

Organism Project

Orrrrganism project proceeds and has a week-before-deadline deadline tomorrow, hence this is my current activity. The flowers grow, the bees move. The flowers currently undertake a form of assexual reproduction though, and literally create a clone seed of themselves which is planted and grows and seeds etc.

Creative Garden

For the Creative Garden company, our chosen niche of professional school and college websites seems very fruitful.

Oh yes and finally, I still want to create a working new design for my own website!

Creative Garden and Generative Art

October 12th, 2006

Creative Garden Update

Each of our roles have been decided for The Creative Garden team, and work gets underway to creating our company persona, website and example products. It has been decided for now that I should produce the main HTML portfolio website while Tom and Lloyd handle the visuals and portfolio pieces.

idat 203

I have now considered examining the Generative Webpaintings by Stanza as a basis for my work in idat203. It has also been suggested to me that I should look into the photographer and artist Paul Smith (http://www.paulmsmith.co.uk/)

Other Stuff

Catalina Estrada - Artist from the Computer Arts magazine also featuring an ex-MLA (media lab arts was the course I signed up for but it changed to i-dat on our first year), Pete Harrison.

Back to replicating bees; having placed traces on every value surrounding the creation and death I have discovered the problem was far more elusive than I thought originally. Every-so-often a bee would die twice, or even three times, causing the total count to go down more than it should for a single death. The effect of this can be seen here, but be warned, running this for a while means a lot of extra bees and serious CPU stress. ALSO, it quite often needs to be left a while before things start to happen.

UPDATE: An even better code bug, just wait for the second generation plants to reproduce…

The Creative Garden

October 3rd, 2006

We begin the plans for our brand new imitation company, The Creative Garden, an internet-based web design company that creates websites specifically for schools. I will be working alongside my compatriates Tom Stembridge and Lloyd Randall for this group based project.

Promotional Website Specifics

We have chosen the idea of a garden to promote both growth and and a fertile environment as well as healthy, natural and fresh web design. In turn, the look of our site and products should feature aspects along this theme. The main site is being developed at http://www.cgarden.srjm.co.uk/.

Having checked for any domains for the words ‘Creative Garden’ we’ve found that it is quite popular so securing a real domain would be very difficult.