Planning the project
This week we finish the planning of our latest Shockwave project. If you have been following the last few columns, you know that we are in the process of building a rather complex Shockwave project involving many of the more advanced techniques and Lingo commands available for use with Shockwave on the Internet.
Last week we discussed project planning. Planning is the key to any successful project, and with Shockwave project planning can make or break your success.
Last week I met with Eric Josowitz, the artist that will be working on this project with me. Eric is a graphic designer based in Austin, TX. His background includes a degree in Architecture from the University of Texas and eight years experience with the Internet, including helping to produce The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd International Conferences on Cyberspace. Currently he is an independent designer and technical producer focusing on the web and interactive multimedia. He can be contacted at ejaz@zilker.net.
Some of Eric's recent projects include work with the Museum of International Folk Art Santa Fe (with Zoom Interactive Design), Marystreet, and Delta Air Lines' Executive Women's Travel Network. Together Eric and I followed the steps listed in last week's column and even created a few preliminary sketches of what the graphics for the project will look like.
The Project Layout
Our project will be a Shockwave control panel for the internet.com site. This control panel will use both clicks and double-clicks, rollovers, and other Lingo commands to create a single user interface to the Web site. Because of this, we know the answers to most of the questions asked in last week's column. We know who the audience will be (you), we know what the goal of the project will be (to create a Shockwave interface to the internet.com site), and we know the timeline of the project (three to four weeks). Now let's take a look at two of the sketches Eric made up for the interface design.
The Sketches
As I mentioned, Eric and I got together and worked up the preliminary look and feel of the project last week. Here are the two main sketches that Eric created, along with the notes I developed for each in regards to the Shockwave functionality they will have. Below each sketch I have included the notes I made on functionality and appearance. All the aspects will be covered in more detail as we progress through the different sections of our project.
Sketch #1
This sketch shows the icon we will animate in the first frames of our Shockwave movie. The graphic will have a spinning motion as it enters into the viewable area of the Shockwave (see the notes marked "Lots of Motion"). This graphic will also open up into our interface for navigation as shown in sketch #2.
Sketch #2
This sketch shows the icon as it will appear when opened to expose the navigation controls. As you can see we will be dealing with two main menus. Again both menus will fold up into the main graphic when it is closed.
Next week we will look at the first sets of Lingo for our project as we start to complete the first sections on our way to finishing our navigational interface. Until then, feel free to send any questions you have dealing with Shockwave or this project.
