I used the Gaia Flash Framework for the first time with this site, and it won’t be the last. It knocks a couple days off of development time because of its navigation flow, baked in SWFAddress, and asset loading. With it’s event hijacking, you aren’t limited to a strict event flow and can still get your site to do what you want.

This project may have ruined “The Summer of Patrick,” but it was worth it. Keep an eye out for Nate’s new show premiering next month!

Here’s what I’ve added:

• “Snow Chase” Holiday Game
• LED Animation for Dayton Flyers Basketball
• Trebuchet Simulation
• Brewery Simulation
• Scrollbar SmartClip
• O.A.R. Risen Site

2008 Best of Web: The Winners (cont’d)

VSA PARTNERS
Caterpillar’s signature-yellow construction and mining machines are icons of American industry: For more than 80 years, that equipment has been building the world’s infrastructure. In 2005 VSA Partners helped create the company’s first global reputation campaign in a decade. Specifically, the campaign targets audiences worldwide who are not aware of Caterpillar’s status as a global, environmentally conscious, technologically sophisticated company, or of its contributions to economic and social progress. The campaign, “The World: In Progress,” consisted of print, out-of-home and radio advertising. Launch of the campaign’s website in March 2008 marked the beginning of a bold online presence designed to further strengthen Caterpillar’s reputation.

The VSA/Caterpillar partnership encompassed the development of Caterpillar’s strategic intent as a company, internal and external research, development of communication strategies and creative execution across employee, dealer and public audiences. The World: In Progress reflects corporate strategy and values. It recognizes that progress can mean different things to different people. For a small African village, it could be a road that connects the town to a larger economy. For a developing nation, it could mean finding alternative means to meet growing energy needs. The campaign emphasizes that no matter what form progress takes, Caterpillar makes it possible. It’s this potential of what the world can be that is the idea behind the campaign. “The campaign focuses on expanding Caterpillar’s strong reputation beyond what it makes, to what it makes possible,” says VSA creative director Patrick Heick.

The design of the website reflects the Caterpillar brand: simple, bold, aspirational. “We were charged with telling compelling stories of the progress Caterpillar makes possible throughout the world,” says VSA creative director Dave Ritter. The VSA team traveled from China and Africa to South America to document the ways in which Cat equipment impacts the quality of life and standard of living for millions of people … and the site brings these stories to life. Large-scale videos coupled with minimal text make this site an engaging experience, rather than a text-heavy report. In addition to the videos, the site is enhanced with fun, interactive maps, 3D diagrams and stunning photo galleries. “What was the best part of doing this job?” asks VSA creative director Jonathan Turitz. “Creating a site that lived up to the engaging stories we were telling.” Terry Lee Stone

VSA PARTNERS | CREATIVE DIRECTORS: PATRICK HEICK, DAVE RITTER, JONATHAN TURITZ | STRATEGIST: KRISTEN GROH | DESIGNERS: BRANDT BRINKERHOFF, ERIC FLEGEL, PETER TY, JONATHAN SLUYS | PRODUCER: HARVEY LEWIS | DEVELOPERS: MATTIE LANGENBERG, PATRICK MCDONALD | PROJECT MANAGERS: CHRISTA PETTIS, CHRISTINA BRINKERHOFF | WRITERS: JONATHAN TURITZ, HEATHER WILSON, DANIEL HARMON | CLIENT: CATERPILLAR | WWW.VSAPARTNERS.COM

This as a deep and complicated site. Here’s what’s in there along with some of what I learned.

• I created a custom photo gallery/image viewer (in the Great Rivers and Madagascar sections) which loads images, and when they are viewed, compares the dimension ratio of the pic to the viewport to determine how the photo should be resized and animated.
• The video player is a re-skin of the FLVPlayback components. The designers put an empty spot on either side of the seek bar handle which was a trick to figure out. The solution was to use blend modes to erase the necessary area.
• The text is loading via XML because we will be updating the site later with other languages.
• I learned a lot about encoding videos for Flash using Quicktime Pro and On2 Flix Pro to get things done.

Update: Added a few languages

Update 2: Added a few stories and changed the menu navigation. The menu is no longer a global piece that drops from the top. Now you have to return to the menu page.

Technologies used:

• Flash CS3 / AS2
• SWFAddress
• SWFForceSize
• On2 Flix Pro for FLV Encoding
• XML

I also did a series of banner ads of different sizes matching the one below for the building.

Technologies Used:

• Flash CS3 / AS2
• Fuse Kit

The cool part is the scrolling zoo explorer. Click the “Zoo Explorer” tab at the top left and then play with the scrolling functionality at the bottom left. I had to use a combination of enter frame events, setInterval, and tweening to get the right feel. Notice the elastic bounce when you hit the end of the slider. And notice that the momentum / inertia increases as you hold down the buttons. The animal scroll bar is built dynamically, with paths to each animal’s SWF file, its name, and its link defined in the XML. As each animal loads, the slider is dynamically resized, and animation variables adjusted.

The rotating images under “What’s New” and their respective links are defined in an XML file. Under the “Zoo Explorer” the text and links in the drop down (or up) are defined in another XML file. As the file is parsed, the menu is built dynamically to the correct size.

Technologies Used:

• Flash / AS2
• Fuse Kit
• XML

Update: The new Brookfield Zoo site is up. Here is the live zoo explorer with a Noah’s Arc-boatload of animals. One improvement I could have made would be to have used 9-slice scaling for the roll over background rectangles behind each animal. Oh well.

Technologies Used:

• Flash CS3

Technologies Used:

• Flash CS3 / AS1