SpinSix Strategic - Marketing Design

Flash animations are animated (or interactive) graphics, cartoons, video, animated films, or animated ads created using Adobe Flash. Flash provides a way to add motion, sound, video and interactivity to Web sites that would otherwise be limited to mostly static text, graphics, and images.

Flash animations may take on many styles, from cartoony and playful, to technical and sophisticated, as shown here:

Flash animations are particularly useful in capturing attention (as in the case of banner ads). On the other hand, Flash can be used less obtrusively, as a way to add subtle polish to a Web site, such as by animating, say, clouds gently moving across the background.

And finally, Flash is usually the Web developer's tool of choice for communicating complicated information such as self-running demos or business presentations that require an ultra professional look, as the one shown here:

In applications such as these, Flash's interactive capabilities really shine, for instance, by allowing the viewer to pause or resume the action, or even allowing them to navigate within the animation, almost as though it were a mini-Web site within a Web site. (In fact, some graphics- and animation-intensive Web sites are built entirely in Flash.)

Beyond the Web

Flash animations are not limited to being displayed on Web sites. Flash animations and videos can be can be distributed as a files with the .SWF file extension. While this aspect of Flash is less common for marketing communications than embedding animation within a Web page, it does offer interesting possibilities for marketers looking to think outside the box.

See Also:

Landing Page Development, Microsite Development, Web Interface Design and Development, Website Architecture, Website Design , Website Development