A client I'm working for recently asked for some basic animation on a web page as an indication of activity. One of the developers on the team created an animated gif of a barber-pole for him. I groaned inwardly when I found out, but then went home to try it myself...
I'm the first to admit that I'm not very good when it comes to creating graphics, and this was no exception. The resulting image is the anagram animation at the top of the page. To build it, I created each of the frames in powerpoint and saved the slide pack as a series of gif images. Then I imported each of them into a gif animation tool frame by frame and set the timing on each. I had to tweak the image size down quite a bit, and finally I crunched it to get the file size as small as I could.
I like the result, but I'm not sure that I like putting it on my web-site. Does it suck? I'm reminded of an IBM ad that ran in Australia where developers argue about using a spinning logo or a flaming logo. The business representative suggests that they could instead actually build some functionality like automation of supply-chain ordering. Confusion kicks in quickly.
What do you think? It's only on the blog section of my site so far. If popular demand agrees that its sucky, I'll move it off to a far corner where people interested in those things can find it.
Comments
I think it is ok if you don't loop the animation. Just let it play once, maybe after a short delay.
Posted by: Anonymous | January 25, 2004 09:15 PM
I've moved the gif now to be just in the blog entry. The banner image at the top is back to normal. I think I'll just keep my animation for (not so) special occasions...
Posted by: Marty Andrews | January 29, 2004 01:43 PM
Hi Marty,
Animated images are distracting to the eye when they are not triggered by something (e.g. a mouseover or click) and are mostly just annoying. As a general rule graphic designers and HCI consultants avoid them. http://psychology.wichita.edu/optimalweb/images.htm. I like your anagram though :)
Pam
Posted by: Pam Jones | February 27, 2004 02:46 PM
sometimes its really useful and practical. have you seen the yahoo briefcase upload animated progress bar? it was more practical and easier than say.. coding with arcane DHTML features just to get the same effect. KISS principle. one colleague even suggested the use of RMI. technically impossible or not, its still ridiculous.
Posted by: MasterBaitor | July 7, 2004 06:06 PM
There will always be different opinions on what is best on all sides of the field and even most others.
At the end of the day things change and so does what people like and dislike. Always and over & over.
What might work for one company or product will also not always work for the next.
It is good to always do what seems best at the time, regardless of outside opinion.
"Do not be scared to do try new things, it is the essence of pioneering." - www.orbhouse.co.za
Posted by: saif | October 9, 2008 10:22 PM