MAT 190 - Flash 2: Actionscript: Airtight Interactive

Airtight Interactive is the studio of developer, Felix Turner. Felix was a featured interview on The FWA (Favorite Website Awards) which is where I came across him.

Felix offers a broad array of services including - Flash development, Actionscripting (versions 2 and 3), Flex development, interface design, prototyping, motion design, video, 3d animation, and game development. I found a couple things interesting about his site:

First, I liked the movement in his 'cover page'. As a design element and a brief demonstration of what he is about, I think it is very effective. It presents his skills enveloped in some interesting text dynamics - the text rotates, moves closer and farther away, 'jumps' or flickers briefly, goes in and out of focus... but the way he did it was very nice, made it feel almost like a living, curious creature examining you. That's a good project to take on to experiment with and learn how to create and communicate motion - use a very simple element, something that isn't alive and try to make it feel alive. I'm thinking this summer I will play with that.

Second, he makes an effort to share his knowledge with the Flash community in his news page - here he discusses problems he ran into and the solutions/explanations he found. His demos page is also interesting in this regard as he discusses his goals and how he went about trying to solve the problems.

Third, he offers some interesting free components for you to download and integrate in your own websites - including Simpleviewer, a free, customizable Flash image viewing application. SimpleViewer may be used in any kinds of personal and/or commercial projects. Please ensure that the SimpleViewer download link in the bottom right corner is clearly visible.

In the interview Felix did with The FWA, he mentions his three favorite design firms which I provide links to below for your pleasure. I always find these references interesting... and I have to admit, I particularly liked the first... which is a slightly off kilter site that uses the music from the Wizard of Oz. The mixture of graphic elements, sketch-like art, limited color palette (very stark - black, gray, white, red) and general weirdness of what is presented tickled my fancy. The second design firm also concentrates on motion dynamics and like some sites offered in other blogs, offers some interesting examples. The third site belongs to a Belgium design firm. The art is interesting, but the style is almost becoming cliche to me... somewhat grunge. It is included more for completeness than any particular interest on my part. Someone else may find something of use in the reference.