Just finished a site for Foxx Productions.

Foxx Film Production - New York, NY

Warning(Dave Barnes)LOL: This one is not for the traditionalists.

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MTheory - Liquid Flash Web Design
Bikers Network

Mark,

You are correct.
I hate Flash splash screens.
I hate it when I click on "enter" and something takes over my entire monitor.
So, I went no further.
I don't understand why designers go out of their way to alienate the prospective buyer.

,dave

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Dave Barnes
+1.303.744.9024
http://www.marketingtactics.com

I recall I've tried to explain this before, but one more time. The target audience for this type of site is not alienated by a big screen flasshy production. That's the industry they're in.

People such as yourself are not the target demographic and I feel it is counter-productive to comprimise presentation that appeals to the target audience to accommodate the masses.

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MTheory - Liquid Flash Web Design
Bikers Network

Sorry, but I don't like it; correction I hate it. First of all, I had to turn my pop-up blocker off to get into it. Then once I got in you made me work real hard to find the menu. Where is the menu? Oh, it's hiding behind that big box that's blocking my view of most of the page and I have to move my mouse into a precise position to see anything of the menu. Hmm...view is still blocked. I click and I end up on the blog page. Gee, I didn't want to go there. How do I get back to the home page??? No way to get there from here. My back button on my browser is gone. In fact, the entire toolbar for my broswer is gone. Only option I have is to close the page. Do you think I'm going to try again? Nope.

Foxx Productions says its company can meet my media needs. I know nothing about media but let's say I do need a video produced to market my business. But my visit to this site has been so frustrating that I'm not staying and will find someone else who has a user friendly site for dummies like me. You say "The target audience for this type of site is not alienated by a big screen flasshy productions. That's the industry they're in. " Who is your target audience? Isn't the audience someone who needs to hire Foxx Productions to meet their media needs? Are all of them going to be in the industry? I think you are alienating potential customers with this site.

Thanks for pointing out the back button issue on the blog. That was meant to open in a new window.

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MTheory - Liquid Flash Web Design
Bikers Network

Ditto on the above comments. I don't want to work to find out where the menu is, ( I don't know anybody who does) and I don't want my monitor taken over.

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Greg Artim
www.ihatethislemon.com

It looks well tidy! (to use an essexism)....Unfortunately had it not been up for review I wouldn't have even visited it since my popup thingy had a fit. That said when I got in it was initially impressive but the menu to the links to the portfolio took a bit of trial and error. The area on the left with the camera image looks a bit iffy - can't put my finger on it but it ain't quite there. It's loads better than I could do though but I bet your not too hot on paving!!!

Now then, if you going to ask for a review then after receiving a negative comment say something like (your not in my demographic) I would say "GO AND ASK SOMEONE WHO IS YA BIG TART!"

Isn't your target demographic a big part of site design? It may be that my understanding of review is different than other peoples. I approach a site review like a motion picture or music review where you have to consider the target audience and not so much personal preferences. For instance, I wouldn't let my agoraphobia bias my review of a travel site.

I actually enjoy a site that screams "full screen" look at me and is visually stimulating. Maybe that's a little hypocritical of me to let my personal preferences dictate design considering my statement above.

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MTheory - Liquid Flash Web Design
Bikers Network

Mark,

Who is the target demographic for the Foxx website?
Age, sex, job title, geographic, etc?

I know that you like the website.
I am sure that Danny likes his new website?
But, do Danny's prospects like it and does it cause them to buy?

,dave

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Dave Barnes
+1.303.744.9024
http://www.marketingtactics.com

I'll just make a couple of observations based on my usual approach to websites that offer some "challenges" to the average visitor.

I had a little trouble finding the menu. I think the reason was that the images you use in the menu aren't well separated, so it looks like a smoosh of pictures rather than a collection with meaning. The rollover effect is okay, but if you're looking at this on a large monitor, the menu words have a long way to travel to get to the images, so it's easy enough to pass on to the next image and only see a flicker of words here and there. I think the rollover effect needs to be a little more ingenious - and quicker to appear beside the images.

The menu images could be made to seem more like a menu if they were closer to the text box, or in some clever way made to seem related to the text box.

So on the menu, I'm okay with your making it present a bit of a challenge, but the solution to the challenge has to be more ingenious. Because of the nature of the business - call it motion graphics - your website design by its very nature is almost like a Foxx production - consequently, it needs to have the high quality and cleverness that people want from Foxx. If it falls short, then it will lower their opinion of Foxx's production abilities. Of course, I can't prove that statement, but it's what goes on in my head when I visit a site like this one in an industry like this one.

The "Vision Is" adds to the "separateness" I talked about regarding the menu, so when you're looking at it against the city backdrop it is even tougher to figure things out. If this image were somehow to bring the key elements of the page - the menu and the text box - together rather than apart, it would work better for me.

There were a couple of confusing things. On the "Press & Buzz" page the page title reads "About Foxx Productions". My cursor changes to a hand over the word "Productions" (when the city backdrop isn't there), but nothing happens when I click.

Upon entering the site I find myself on the About Us page. Makes people wonder if they missed something. As it is right now, the About page text reads more like traditional home page text. I would make this the actual home page text and create a different About Us page - one with the more traditional info, the sort of stuff that gives evidence of Foxx skill and success: how long they've been in business, who are the big clients, awards won, key people, that sort of thing.

The video clips in the portfolio were pixelated at times. I would expect higher quality visuals from a productionn company website. I'm not sure about the choice of clips - one rape and a schlock horror scene - but I don't pretend to know your target demographic. However, if I were looking for a company to do my company's commercial, I might have doubts about them after seeing a couple of those clips. I did like the portfolio's opening video montage (but the res wasn't so hot at times).

...Duane

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www.draydesign.com

I like it. I have a few suggestions though.

Why I like it - I'm probably in the 'family tree' of the target demographics. I'm connected with media, arts, entertainment, show business, etc. (though I don't currently manage or own any websites in that area). So I'd agree how the presentation is geared for that audience. You want all the bells and whistles implemented that would attract 'production' oriented consumers.

Not a big fan of splash screens, especially that only say 'enter'. They'll probably enter anyway, but it's a gamble of whether it impressed them or annoyed them. Probably 50/50 even with your target audience, imo. Even a simple homepage can have the benefits of a splash screen without the annoyance. It's like publishing a book that only has the title and the word "open" on the cover.

Or, if you do go with a splash screen, give it more of a purpose. For example, see tylerperry.com. Splash screen gives visitors a choice whether to go full screen or regular.

Which is a segway to another point -- some visitors don't want the site to automatically open full-screen.

Navigation - press, blog, and contact were hard to understand how to navigate. Visitors may not realize the one picture is mapped to navigate 3 different ways. After clicking on one, they may find their way through the rest of the site of course. But I think visitors generally like to know up front how big the site is going to be, and the quicker they can see that at first glance, the better.

As for the artistic quality and implementation of Flash, you've done some very fine work.

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