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very useful article and i’ll bookmark it

Interesting & Inspiring Collection

I only like Flash websites if they don’t take an age to load.

I must say, how do you collect these sites! Damn some amazing stuff! Makes me wanna go and start photoshop/flash/whatever :)

Flash is great, but AJAX is much more useful for the web.

Flash will always be controversial, people will either love it or hate it. Flash is the only way to fully express a design and immerse users in the experience. There are some fine examples here which show some really creative approaches that the usual boring html standard that we are so used to time and time again. The internet would certainly be a boring place without flash, that’s for sure!!

Maybe ajax is usable to some extend, but think about al IE6 compatibility issues you are facing developing JS

@awsum IE6 compatibility issues have crippled web design for far too long. Which is why the various campaigns to persuade end users to abandon it are gathering momentum. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the anti-Microsoft sentiment per se (I own an Xbox, I use Office), although I will admit to indulging in it once in a while, but it has to be said that when it comes to the Internet, they have consistently done the public at large an enormous disservice. Perhaps that’s why they find themselves less popular than the likes of Google? If you disagree, have a read/think about their dogged insistence on their own bespoke standards at the expense of actual standards, and don’t even get me started on font rendering. As a computer/technology user, I can take or leave Microsoft either way. As a designer, their counter-productive meddling drives me to distraction.

I have always been amazed by what the guys over at 2advanced.com come up with.

Hi All,

Thank you for your kind comments. Some of you are trying to compare a Flash site with CSS/XHTML, and you can’t. I mean, if you are using Flash to create a CSS/XHTML environment, then you are committing a mistake, on the other hand, you can’t create the interactivity of a Flash site, with CSS/XHTML.

Flash means, motion, interactivity, and finally free access. Don’t forget that, while you are creating a CSS/XHTML site, you must prepare your project to be able to show properly in the several available browsers (i’m not speaking in IE only), however, with a Flash site, you don’t need to care, as what will be shown in Firefox it will be exactly the same as in IE, Safari or other.

Now, don’t forget to digg this, and if you know more cool sites just twitte me with it.

So inspiring!

As a web developer myself, I agree that Flash certainly has its place. It’s great for expressing our creativity and originality, but I also agree that it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to load. Developers often lose sight of what their users want, and are engulfed in their own imagination. People want content fast, and they want it easy to find. That should be a primary factor when developing flash sites.

If you are creating a flash site and you know it’s going to take forever to load, you should create an html/css version also (if possible) and let the users decide how they want to get to your content. A great method is to have a ’skip to static site’ button while the flash one is loading. That way the user can gauge how long the site is going to take to load before they make their decision. I realize that sometimes this can’t be done because of whatever your content is.

Anyways, great list.

so cool, so perfect, i looooove them

About the Privado Seguros website, they’re doing some rebranding so here’s a permalink to the online version: http://www.view.pt/go/privado-seguros/.

wow COOL collection

I know a very beautiful website :
http://www.pixels-atlantic.com/

Great article, but under commercial there is one typo though. Shouldn’t “Zube” be Zune”?

Nice collection. Only one little typo to point out: I think it is called Zune, not Zube. :)

LOL to people comparing flash to css… let me just bump this comment from the author:

Hi All,

Thank you for your kind comments. Some of you are trying to compare a Flash site with CSS/XHTML, and you can’t. I mean, if you are using Flash to create a CSS/XHTML environment, then you are committing a mistake, on the other hand, you can’t create the interactivity of a Flash site, with CSS/XHTML.

Flash means, motion, interactivity, and finally free access. Don’t forget that, while you are creating a CSS/XHTML site, you must prepare your project to be able to show properly in the several available browsers (i’m not speaking in IE only), however, with a Flash site, you don’t need to care, as what will be shown in Firefox it will be exactly the same as in IE, Safari or other.

Now, don’t forget to digg this, and if you know more cool sites just twitte me with it.

Some seriously incredible websites. Most of them are de-motivating me ;-)

these are amazing, people should check out http://www.blueoctober.com an amazing band and a stunng web page

I HATE most of flash websites. So many of that that are poorly designed, or take ages to load or whatever.
The few of the list i visited are bad too. I mean… come on designers, are you just dumb or what ? Do you think anybody will watch a counter going from 0 to 100 ?
Some of you are so dumb that they are trying to make this shit “design”, adding a little motion or a blurry effect or something nobody will appreciate except a few newbies on the internet.
Please, learn your lessons. Buy a Nintendo, buy some games and watch what they do. You’ll never see a counter or a progress bar from Nintendo, these guys have good ideas to make you wait without notice it and every good designer should do the same.
Always make a cool, funny or informative 30ko preload or just drop your 2Mo swf to the trash, as users will just leave it before it loads completely.
When the first page is loaded, preload some other things that users will probably wanna see, make your flash website fast and usable… or just do good old plain HTML websites, because flash is good only if you have very, very strong technical/usability/network skills.

I agree that there are many flash sites (including some on this list) that take too long to load and can be frustrating to navigate. But this post is about inspiration, and a site or even a page doesn’t have to be all flash or css/xhtml. Flash can provide a little bit of animation or interactivity as part of a xhtml site. I enjoyed this list to see what elements work, and which ones I’ll be happy to stay away from.

I would like to recommend Power To Change website as well. It’s an environmental campaign by HP. The aim is to create awareness to turn off their computers when they are done using it, either at workplace or at home.

@Paul… “Flash is for artists, html and css are for developers.” ….
I don’t think this is true at ALL… compare html/css to actionscript 3.0 and you might change your opinion…

@Joey… “I HATE most of flash websites. So many of that that are poorly designed, or take ages to load or whatever.
The few of the list i visited are bad too. I mean… come on designers, are you just dumb or what ? Do you think anybody will watch a counter going from 0 to 100 ?”
Flash can be misused just as often has html/css sites. One of the most popular places flash is used are geared towards the entertainment and gaming industry, well coded and designed flash sites should not take long to load comparable to an html site. But if it does take a little longer, its because of the fact that it adds a level of interactivity and animation that css/html couldnt do. It’s pointless to argue html/css vs. flash, that’s like comparing php to javascript… they have their own reasons for implementation

Flash is great and it is the most complete development environment to work in still. Do anything in one place is great. But it is surprising to me how many dev and company spend so much creating nicelooking and innovative sites and still dont know how to optimise for fast load. It is easy to get blind on your own fast line and supercomputer. I will always test Flash and other sites on slowband (mobile) and a netbook or old computers. Even being a Flahs-geek I move on if loading keeps on and on and the menus are too “exeperimental”. On the other hand, its a big internet with room for many experiments and tastes. Everything does not have to look like corporate HTML /CSS verified, most looking the boring same. Theres room for play too. Its those who dare to break new grounds that brings dev and innovation forward and some things will be good some will be bad. Some seem to think that internet should be only one big boring sales folder, it is also an exeperience and much more than that. Flamewars are only silly. Use any technique and learn, but test in different environments is what I think. You dont like it – move on!

Really nice examples and I like Flash if it is beneficial for the visitor! But as already mentioned from others, sometimes it takes too long to load. Specially the environmental sites should be more concerned about load times :-)

Actually I hate to design flash website, but I enjoy these inspriation websites very much! :)~~

Smashing magazine. Your taste in flash webdesign is one that was lame in 2003 and is horrible to say the least. Maybe look at some http://tha.jp websites wich for one actually have estheticly correct typography. Now stop polluting our minds with this craep!

The majority of these website literally suck ass, wtf is wrong with you people?

@Carlos, I think the main reason that people are comparing HTML/CSS to Flash is because SM does tends to focus on HTML/CSS/JS/PHP so your audience here are mostly based in that camp. It’s also a debate that has raged for a few years now, so whenever Flash is brought up, everyone has an opinion.

Flash is excellent for immersive, high-impact experiences, and advanced interactivity. This is a niche area, and development time excludes it from being appropriate for day to day projects, but doesn’t mean it doesn’t warrant a post on SM.

I am interested in the rumours, that you allude to, that Flash is becoming indexable by search engines and that there are some solutions for content managing Flash. Although not sure this will cause a resurgence in Flash sites, would still like to hear more about this – another post perhaps?

@Carlos
I think that what you are doing here is great and I say keep up the good work. After all the negative stuff about flash in this thread, you seem to be staying positive – thats how I believe things should be. I’d be very interested to read your next article.

@Everyone in the Flash verses XHTML/CSS war
Good luck in trying to win that battle – I for one will not bother wasting my time choosing a side. Instead, I’ll act just like a professional web designer/developer and use the technologies how i see fit to fit my individual projects and clients. After all, we are all creative in our own rights are we not? You are all wise enough to know the differences between the two technologies – why not use that for your own strengths?

These are great sites for inspiration. Thanks as usual Smashing.

The gallery is nice but you really can’t have this post without mentioning 2advanced – those guys have done amazing flash since it existed and have the work to prove it.

5 star post, Thank you.

I found Saizenmedia’s Keepersgame in your list, so I recalled their Nightwish project site beeing very well designed: http://www.saizenmedia.com/nightwish/

I love how the first site showcased doesn’t let you past the entry screen without you entering your email and creating a password. Great marketing strategy… if your goal is to divert 80% of traffic away from your site.

Come on people! You can´t just execrate all the flash web sites ´cause their are too slow or I don´t know what else.
I agree, usability is everything for me, so, that´s why I´m a big fan of simple designed sites, css and ajax, but, flash websites has an appeal that you will never find in somewhere else (at least, for a while).

(I agree there´re some websites in this article with serious problems of navigability and design)

My point is:

When you´re surfing through a website that will show you the schedule of the cinema, for sure you´ll want it faster as possible, otherwise you just close your tab and go away to another link.

But, when you´re expecting to watch a teaser of your favorite movie, or travelling around the world of your favorite chocolate brand, you can easily wait a few minutes (no more than 3! =D )

Each kind of website has an target to reach, and a specific kind of people to captivate… don´t be radical. Understand the needs first, ok?

Very inspiring

For anyone who is arrogant enough to use the comments here as Flash V.S. Ajax, Flash V.S. loading times, or anything else that out of place you might want to remember that strong experiences are what drives a strong brand. A lot of these sites were done in a way to be as engaging as possible, to let the user tie as much emotion to them as possible.

If you think you should tell Martini the best way to invoke brand experience is with an Ajax form then you’re an idiot and might just want to stay in the IT department.

I know server side, client side, and multiple languages, and they all have their place. Ajax even being mentioned in the comments here prove many of you don’t have a clue.

Anyhow, thanks Smashing Magazine for a great list of high end and highly engaging web sites

Here you can see a simple but effective flash web:
http://www.serpentwars.com

nice post.. thanks again.. guys for me flash is great but it depends on how you use it. Flash is use for advertising website like Coca cola.. but using flash on informative webiste?? hahaha. makes me laugh.. its better to use ajax on that kind of site, but both flash and ajax are great it only depend on how you use it..

Patagonia is misspelled.

Check out http://www.hotel626.com/

Its open only from 6 pm to 6 am.

The amount of creativity involved here is undoubtedly massive. The designs are top-notch and the Flash programming is superb. The only problem is that these sites can only be enjoyed on rather high-end computers which, sadly enough, are rather few in number. That way, such weighty Flash designs actually limit your audience.

For example, I was trying to view the HP site. Even with a Dual Core processor and 1 GB of RAM, I found the experience erratic and annoying. Makes me wonder, is there really a point in designing such heavy sites if they remain inaccessible to most of us.

Some of the sites are cool, but I would really love to see a feature on Flash websites that don’t break the browser, do well in search engines, and are usable for every day use, all while offering functionality that can’t be achieved with HTML/CSS/JavaScript.

@ev4n

check fwa to find functional and beautiful flash websites
that’s actually the most important flash link now:

thefwa.com

css vs flash?

flash is becoming more and more SEO friendly
that was for years the biggest downfall of using flash

techniques like deep linking allow us to achieve in flash
everything what can be done using markup
and we still have much more creative freedom…

Some real good flash work here.
But most of it is ordinary.

@Karl – #3 “I don’t like Flash sites.”
@huge schlon

I think you are probably quite boring men (in a visual meaning)

and

I belive also that WITHOUT FLASH THE INTERNET WOULD BE SO MUCH BORING!

Robert from EU

ps: do you leave the cinema instantly when a movie is begining with a prelude full of the list of the producers, actors and actresses, camera mens, and so on? I do not think… so please keep be patient when a flash site is loading or go away for a cup of coffee… :-)
So think + and do not be so philistine!

cheerio from Hungary!

Nice post, lots of great sites.

Simply inspirational! Great sites, designs and usage of Flash…Nice one!

Had trouble interacting with the sites. Hard to read fonts. Requires great dexterity for some links, for example I had to click a 8 pixels square to scroll down to read tiny font in a small window. Why couldn’t they make the window bigger or resize-able or at least make the scroll bar larger? Lots of prettiness without a lot of practicality or functionality. Lots of thought into the art and design and none for the user’s end.

I’m sure some of these sites are exceptions.

Todos os trabalhos estão ótimos e bacana ver trabalhos de brasileiros nesta seleção.
Parabéns.

I think people who don’t like flash are mostly people who don’t know how to use it well. No flash, no fun on internet. Flash is becoming more searchable no js library can ever achieve what flash can do in the same ease and speed. AND it still won’t look as good.
People are finding ways to embed fonts on sites and it hasn’t been easy, but with flash it’s super easy. I like LOVE flash but still use XHTML & CSS and this is the way it will be for everyone out there. Sooner or later, you’ll need to use both.

super it toppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp site are ther here
i love it this stuff

Flash can do it all, and with FLEX basically HTML/CSS sites will become mundane relics.

Some big companies not interested in marketing are adopting Flex RIGHT now, I’m talking about big time finance companies who want to deliver beautiful highly interactive charts within online applications.

People who down Flash DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE IT, don’t be scared, buy a book, learn, grow, accept.