You should have seen this one coming – it’s the fourth of five IDM(Inspiration Design Model) posts for my “Interactive Media I”:http://class.cas.msu.edu/tc346/ course!

This week on the class chopping block: “Rustboy”:http://www.rustboy.com/, a Flash site for the Brian Taylor short film project.

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I normally dislike websites that are entirely made up of Flash, but in this case it works. It is the content itself, that makes this use of Flash appropriate. Brian Taylor is trying to lead visitors through the _process_ of his production and efficiently does so in his site.

The layout is very simple – _almost_ too simple. I think for such a graphically based film project, the integration of subtle textures and logos from the film into the main flash design would have helped to develop the overall theme and feel of the site. However, the fact that the design _is_ so simple, also makes it easier to focus on the more important content rather than the marketability of the film.

In the beginning, I said that I tend to dislike Flash sites and this is because of all the “obvious reasons”:http://www.davidplant.net/design/technology/flash.htm. Today, I think one of the biggest problems with Flash is its inability to allow for changes in text size. More people are upgrading to large, flat-screen, desktop monitors or to small portable laptops. In either case, looking at a Flash site like Rustboy could be difficult with such small text. One of the new trends in web design seems to be creating very fluid sites that can be expanded and enlarged for bigger desktops or shrunken for smaller ones, allowing for the clean and easy resizing of text. We know that Rustboy.com hasn’t been updated since January and was originally created in 2001. However, if the site ever should get a makeover, perhaps this fluid design would be something worth considering – especially when working with such detailed graphics. It would be great to see nice, full resolution images of the concept art and storyboards, etc.

The content speaks for itself on Rustboy. Brian Taylor is obviously skilled at what he does. The progress he’s made with the Rustboy character is impressive, however it’s unfortunate that his online efforts seem to have halted since January of this year. Hopefully we’ll see an update or two on the development of Rustboy, and as mentioned by Taylor – a site redesign “to reflect the new direction of the Rustboy movie.”

_Jewls_