nerdcereal.com

The Itinerary

This was the final project for my Flash class. I wanted to make a site similar to the Baja Postcard but interactive. It would be an interface to display photos from a transcontinental journey while at the same time providing a map for geographical reference. The requirements were that it needed to include at least two scenes, instances of motion tweens, shape tweens and movie clip symbols.

The Journey

The site needed to include a rough map of the United States and an area for the pictures to be displayed. A “Keep Truckin’” button, designed to look like a road sign, would take the user to the next destination, marked on the map with a new red dot and place name. Each leg of the voyage would be represented by a red line being drawn to the new destination. Instead of a “Go Back” button, I included a “Go Home” button that would take the user back to the beginning of the trip. Should the user want to go back to a previously visited city, the city names and dots are buttons that take the user back to that particular frame. The photos were layered on top of each other to give the physical illusion that they are being stacked one on top of the other. When applicable, a photo with a common landmark was picked to be displayed.

Since a second scene was required for the project, an intro page was added. The intro page was designed to be a road coming at the screen, giving the user the perspective that he or she is moving down the road. Another road sign, “Enter,” would take the user to the main part of the site.

The Destination

The project was received well by the class and earned a good mark. The interface proved effective at communicating sections of the trip, the distance traveled and the visual imagery encountered along the way. The design, however, could be improved to include multiple pictures from each location.