Queen Bee Marketing’s Blog About Marketing, SEO, and Design.

I’d like to take the time to introduce to you a new web technique I am working on called Faux Flash. Before I explain what faux flash is though I should probably take some time to talk about regular flash. Flash is a program that has become very popular for its ability to add animation and interactivity to web pages. If you have ever seen a beautiful animated website full of interactive features, chances are it was made with flash. Faux Flash is a way to simulate the pretty animation of a flash website without actually having to use flash.
A good example of this is….uh… hmm…

Ok there aren’t really any examples of this on the internet because no one is really doing it. Most developers would just go ahead and use flash for the pretty interactive animations. Maybe this technique will catch on at some point. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

How do I make faux flash? Faux Flash goes retro by making use of animated GIFs (yes the same as those annoying banners and dancing hamsters). In combination with CSS rollovers these animated wonders of yesterday can create some exciting new possibilities. To see a very simple example, check my portfolio page web.ics.purdue.edu/~cschlens and roll your mouse over the buttons at the top. This is a very limited example of what faux flash is capable of but it is still a decent example. I am currently working on developing a website that implements some of the more impressive capabilities of this technique, but nothing is ready to be unleashed on the public just yet.

Some of these features include images that zoom larger when you roll your mouse over them, interactive animated menus, expanding content, and much much more. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates of my adventures in Faux Flash.