Hybrid
1st edition — by Patrick McNeil — Jun. 13, 2006
The Design Element
The hybrid web site is something that I think gets overlooked a lot. Flash began
with a bang and many sites went pure flash.
Since then flash has shifted greatly in it's usage, and it seems that the hybrid
site is by far the largest usage of flash today. I think this makes perfect
sense. You combine the core benefits the various technologies offer; the dynamics
of flash with the practicality of html. No
worries about search engines indexing your site for example. I really think
this is by far the most powerful usage of flash. It greatly enhances a site
and offers a very attractive means of presentation.
Dimix.it
and
Digitalmash
are two perfect examples of flash being so tightly integrated into the site
that you can't tell where it starts. Ultra tight integration such as this
really amazes me. The concept is simple though, take an element of the design
and animate it in some way using flash. It creates a dynamic on the page
that is very memorable.
Another approach, which is much more common, is to have a nice bit of flash
that fits the site, but isn't so seamless.
N.Design Studio
demonstrates this perfectly. The flash banner near the top of the home page
completely fits the design of the site, but it is clear that it is an isolated
portion of the page. I don't think this is bad at all, just a slightly different
approach, and far more common.
This really makes me wish I was more of a flash guy, these sites have a
level of appeal that goes beyond the static site. I am more on the html/css
side of the fence so these sites impress me in a way similar to what a "normal"
user might feel.
One interesting observation about this collection of links is how much more
commercial they are then most of the sets I have presented. The complexities
of building such a site is probably one reason. The other is that this technique
works so well in a commercial setting.
Sample Usage
