Although jQuery isn’t known to be the best solution for 3-D and vector-based graphics, there are several other areas in which jQuery out-performs Flash.

Search Engine Friendly:
Your site’s content is not locked up in Flash file, thus making it accessible to search engine bots and screen readers. Freeing up your content can drastically increase your site rankings.

User-Friendly:
jQuery doesn’t require a plug-in like Flash does.  Your Web 1.0 user won’t need to download anything to view or interact with the functionality on your site. 

Browser-Friendly, Mobile-Browser-Friendly
jQuery is supported by most browsers (provided the user hasn’t disabled Javascript), including Safari on the iPhone.  To date, Flash is not supported by the iPhone.

Developer-Friendly:
jQuery is executed through Javascript, HTML and CSS.  No Flash developers are required.  Also, subject to debate, but the learning curve with jQuery isn’t nearly as steep as Flash.

Budget-Friendly:
jQuery is completely free.  Adobe Flash costs upwards of $700, and that’s before you’ve even begun to scope a designer to do the work.

Server-Friendly:
jQuery code is lightweight: no large Flash files, no large downloads.

As more and more plug-ins become available and gain support from the developer community, it’s important to keep in mind that there may already be a jQuery solution for your needs out there.  Depending on what you’re trying to achieve, it’s important to evaluate both technologies.  If there is a jQuery solution, it may provide a more cost-effective solution for you – and a better experience for your users.

The sticks stayed in the office through the fall, as the PixelMEDIA team worked to bring them online. Bauer Hockey hired PixelMEDIA to tackle the MY BAUER project, a rich Flash application where players can purchase and personalize Bauer’s top-of-the-line sticks. From choosing a pattern, grip, and color to printing a player’s name right on the stick, MY BAUER walks users through their choices and gives a three-dimensional preview of their purchase.

PixelMEDIA was tasked with updating the site’s look and overhauling the platform that supported it. For Bauer, administering the site would be easier than ever, from managing attributes to handing out discount codes. And the modular, flexible Flash client delivered faster performance and paved the way to new sticks.

For PixelMEDIA, working on MY BAUER meant creating a rich retail experience. The stick models had to look good and load quickly. Customers demanded a full-featured shopping experience, where they could tweak their stick for hours, store it in an online “stick rack” and then share it with a teammate, or say, a parent with a credit card. And the bilingual site made players feel at home whether they logged on from Madison, Wisconsin or Saint-Jérôme, Quebec.

Since MY BAUER launched, PixelMEDIA has had the pleasure of working closely with the Bauer team to maintain and enhance the site, and to launch new product lines – like the Vapor X:60 goalie stick, available as of December.

The upgrades in the technology of MY BAUER allows us to easily update the wide variety of choices we are able to provide the consumer as well as enhance the overall user experience. —Evan Baker, Product Line Manager, Sticks, Bauer Hockey.

The Impact

• Deliver a new look and rebrand for Bauer’s premium retail experience
• Design a bi-lingual site with fully configurable product options
• Support transactions in multiple currencies
• Move MY BAUER to a new e-commerce platform, for simpler maintenance and greater reliability
• Replace the existing stick configurator with a modular, easy-to-update Flash client

I’ve got many thousands of hours into this program; and this company, PixelMEDIA, was largely built on the back of Director.

We started as an interactive media company in 1994 – where our tag was actually ‘interactive multimedia solutions’. Demo diskettes, trade show presentations, interactive CD’s, and eLearning… all was possible. And I even designed at least half of them, and programmed another half (yes, laugh it up, it’s true. I wrote many thousands of lines of Lingo – prepped many thousands of screens of modeling, and animation and interfaces – I did – ask Erik.).

I started using Director in 1992 at Cabletron Systems. Every demo diskette, tradeshow piece and CD was done in Director. There was no Flash; there were no “mature web tools”. And Director ruled the era as Flash has the last several years. But Flash has it’s drawbacks and challenges.

Now I know what your thinking; why? Why unearth what the newer generation of designers and developers consider a relic. I mean – seriously; to some it’s sort of the rotary phone of it’s time. A one time amazing innovation, but may not so much anymore. Or maybe it’s the bag-phone? It depends on your age I guess.

Well, clearly that is no longer the case – as Adobe, in all it’s wisdom has brought it back. They too realized a huge void in the tools space; and have recently launched Adobe Director 11. And who are we to question Adobe? As they have consistently provided the tools we’ve used to build an industry on. Well done Adobe.
Peace. -t

PixelMEDIA Solution
PixelMEDIA helped Ektron stand out by letting their “crowd” make the pitch. They turned the camera on Ektron stakeholders to create an interactive Flash®-based video comprising vignettes of prototypical user scenerios. First, they identified key communication goals and drafted a script to elevate those topics in an appropriate pace and structure. CEO Bill Rogers set the stage. His introduction incorporated salient aspects of his vision, which the PixelMEDIA team brought to life in several ways:

• Dialogue coaching ensured a natural and engaging pitch
• Costuming and makeup presented a camera-ready image
• Physical coaching evoked a hands-on, confident manner

The team shot Bill on-site at PixelMEDIA against a greenscreen, which they replaced with a virtual tradeshow environment in post-production. Populating the “trade show” were prototypical “users” who told their side of the story. Diverse vignettes incorporated a variety of creative elements:

• Location shoots and custom still photography
• Environmental sound, specific to each vignette
• Set dressing and costuming

PixelMEDIA’s creativity extended to technical solutions as well. The interactive video will work equally well for users in a trade show or in front of a computer due to the integrated compression and dynamic bandwidth detection.

PixelMEDIA’s drive, creativity, and energy produced a demo that blew away our expectations—all without a single screenshot.
—Bill Rogers, CEO/President, Ektron, Inc.

For this initiative, PixelMEDIA provided

• Content strategy and scriptwriting
• Dialogue coaching, makeup, and costuming
• Location scouting and set decoration
• Cinematography and still photography
• Flash® visual design and development
• Post production and video compositing
• Sound design

PixelMEDIA Solution
Juniper hired PixelMEDIA’s award-winning team of designers, content strategists, and Flash gurus. Their assignment: make the drab world of secure communications over IP exciting for their target audience. But first, they needed to understand the brand. PixelMEDIA and Juniper met to hammer out their brand message and how to make a splash on a tradeshow floor full of competitors. After some in-depth target research, an intense brainstorming session, and plenty of time in the trenches, PixelMEDIA and Juniper Networks unveiled “Planet Juniper and the Race to Save Broadband.” The tradeshow presentation threw aside corporate conventions and encompassed a number of creative aspects to reach Juniper’s tech crowd:

• Design and messaging was dictated by a mid-century sci-fi theme that came through in all aspects of the presentation:
• Captain Kilobyte brings to life an existing Juniper character by explaining their products and services during his perilous journey to Planet Juniper.
• The creative script coupled with distinctive voice talent gets across all of Juniper’s important information in the intriguing context of a sci-fi adventure, bringing in sci-fi references and humor to engage the audience.
• The product interface takes the creative form of the robot sidekick’s handheld consumer console.

The Impact

• Continued press coverage for Juniper Networks and increased visibility of the featured product line
• Enthusiastic target audience response
• Memorable differentiation from the competition made the technology come to life

PixelMEDIA made our new IP technology come to life in a unique way that really caught everyone’s eye — and tickled their funny bone.
—David Boland, Product Marketing Manager, Juniper Networks

For this initiative, PixelMEDIA provided

• Content strategy and scriptwriting
• Visual design and development
• Creative concepting and character development
• Interaction design
• Voiceover casting