This past week I finally finished up and launched a redesign for the Aces Tattoos website. As part of the redesign I reworked the logo (see old logo here), rewrote the entire site, new design, new... well everything's just new.. that sums it up. The site was done using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, a bit of PHP and even some jQuery. This was my first non-flash site in a looong time and even though it wasn't a terrible process, playing browser-roulette definitely made me remember why I love the Flash world so much. In the end though the goals of the project were satisfied I think (a site to showcase the work of the artists, could be maintained by the client using no code [Adobe Contribute] and a design the client was happy with). It did feel good to do another freelance project after a pretty long layoff. And while I don't plan to get back into freelancing a ton, I do see/have a few projects on the horizon and look forward to the creative freedom you just dont get from the 9-5.

If you get a second, stop by Aces Tattoos and check out the artist portfolios, tell them how awesome their site is or get some ink of your own from one of their amazing artists.

Check out the onAir site for scheduled stops, tour photos and videos, blogs, and even an AIR Bus API. Then Register to attend the event near you, you wont be disappointed. They have great shwag bags too

I agree completely that standards have a place and we need people pushing for them. Not at the expense of the user however, this should be at the expense of the supplier. Rather than attack a technology like Flash or SWFObject that has made conventions available to work with browsers that don’t conform, why not attack the non conforming browser themselves if that’s where your frustration really lies. Seems to me if you have a fundamental problem with the embed tag, you don’t go after the people who are forced to use it to achieve cross-browser friendliness, you go after the browsers that force this need. But maybe its just more sheik to bash Flash than Mozilla.

The guy who stirred this whole thing up (this time) commented on Geoff's blog

"The logical reply to your opening question is that users should be allowed to suffer because in most cases, they paid for their browsing software (albeit as one component of their stock OS install)."

So when a user suffers do you really think they blame their browsing software? Really? No, they blame their designer/developer for doing a shit job because their site (that they also paid for, and probably paid a higher price than they do for their browsing experience) isn't as usable as it could be.

As far as I'm concerned (which I'm sure means little to anyone but myself) I'll keep giving my users the best experience I can, using the best tools available, and not forcing them to suffer the civil war we as designers/developers have to fight daily... that’s what I get paid for.

It's nothing fancy but it was a cool project for me to get my feet wet with JSFL. Here's what the extension does:

• Sets Frame - rate to 31fps
• Creates basic layers -
---- actions : a layer for all code
---- interface : a layer for interface elements
---- background : a layer to place the background graphic or color box
---- trace : a guide layer for placing graphics used for placement only
• Creates basic folders in the library -
---- Audio : place your sound files in here
---- Bitmaps : place your imported images in here
---- Buttons : place your button symbols in here
---- Components : place your components in here
---- Graphics : place your graphic symbols in here
---- Movies : place your MovieClip symbols in here
• Locks actions layer prevents stage elements from being placed on that layer

Once installed you can access the command "Create Default File" from the Flash Commands Menu.

I'd like to figure out a way to have it automatically run this command every time I create a new file, but I haven't figured out if that's even possible yet. I picked up the Extending Flash MX 2004 book by Keith Peters and Todd yard as well, it's always good to have a nice reference handy.

Download (.mxp) | Source (.jsfl)

Peter states:
"The idea behind this site is to provide an open source repository of JSFL scripts, everyone can get involved and share their work. Right now I've got experiments up that I did for a couple of Flash conferences. Some of the examples are still work in progress or just a proof of concept ”feel free to play around with the code, debug and/or add features."

This is one of the areas I haven't had a chance to play around with much, maybe its about time I get off my butt and see what its all about. This looks like a great resource. Hope to see guys like Guy Watson (aka Flashguru), Keith Peters, and Patrick Mineault get involved as well, they have already produced some very useful automation extensions for Flash I use all the time.

You can also get started writing your own by checking out the JSFL reference in the LiveDocs, or download a pdf reference. There are tons of articles to help get started as well, including:
• Introducing the JSFL File API @ Adobe
• Extending Flash MX 2004, Part 1: Understanding the JSFL DOM @ DevX
• Flash Javascript API > An Introduction @ FlashAdvisor