Abstract
This paper will argue that a shift has taken place on the World Wide Web from a mode of written electronic documents to dynamic interfaces – that is structurally, metaphorically and aesthetically. I emphasize the role of the software Macromedia Flash in the emergence of contemporary web interface design, and how designs made in this software may be seen to challenge established notions of the web ‘page’. In presenting a ‘flashback’ into the use of Flash in late 1990s web design, this paper presents a compressed retrospective of some developments of website interface design from early use of the software Flash, to contemporary use of this application – aiming to raise discussion on new conceptions of web interface design that has a looser relation to the metaphor of the book.
Citation
Skjulstad, S. (2004) 'Flashback': Tracing Developments From Electronic Paper to Dynamic Environments in the Software Flash., in Redmond, J., Durling, D. and de Bono, A (eds.), Futureground - DRS International Conference 2004, 17-21 November, Melbourne, Australia. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2004/researchpapers/116
'Flashback': Tracing Developments From Electronic Paper to Dynamic Environments in the Software Flash.
This paper will argue that a shift has taken place on the World Wide Web from a mode of written electronic documents to dynamic interfaces – that is structurally, metaphorically and aesthetically. I emphasize the role of the software Macromedia Flash in the emergence of contemporary web interface design, and how designs made in this software may be seen to challenge established notions of the web ‘page’. In presenting a ‘flashback’ into the use of Flash in late 1990s web design, this paper presents a compressed retrospective of some developments of website interface design from early use of the software Flash, to contemporary use of this application – aiming to raise discussion on new conceptions of web interface design that has a looser relation to the metaphor of the book.