Things are getting REALLY exciting at Stonewall+ on a number of different fronts. We’ve landed some GREAT new accounts and are doing work for some of the countries leading brands, including Virgin SA, General Motors (Chevrolet, Cadillac, Isuzu, Opel and Hummer), Investec, Pam Golding, Cadbury, Shoprite, Checkers and PriceWaterhouseCoopers to name but a few.

We aim to achieve a number of goals with our work:

1. Produce work of international standard
2. Create exceptional value for our clients
3. Push the boundaries of the medium and experiment with new technologies
4. Have fun doing it.

If you share these values, and you’re keen to join a dynamic, innovative company full of people you can learn from and produce some outstanding work, apply now! Here’s a short rundown of what we’re after:

• Interactive Motion Designer
  Are you an After Effects and Flash junkie who gets off on visual effects and constantly downloads showreels? Do you have an eye for animation and see video as the future of the web? This job is for you. Get in touch! Send a link to your showreel / portfolio as well as your CV to designer[at]stonewall.co.za
• Actionscript Guru
  You’re object-oriented by nature, and you communicate in classes and functions (). You’re not scared of conceptual thinking, and you know what Papervision 3D, Sharikura, and WiiFlash are. Don’t miss this opportunity. Send your CV and work samples to developer[at]stonewall.co.za
• HTML/CSS Programmer (Code Ninja!)
  You’re presentation layer is separate from your content, and you validate when interrogated. What are you waiting for? CV and work samples to developer[at]stonewall.co.za
• Senior Interactive Designer
  Photoshop is your playground and Flash is your friend. You so over the Web 2.0 look, and you eat complex design problems for breakfast. You make the most of every opportunity to create, and your portfolio speaks for itself. Come on - send it on to designer[at]stonewall.co.za
• Production Manager
  You’re a compulsive list-writer and you’re a natural born leader. You understand the web inside and out, and you’re able to bring out the best in people. Send your CV to studioproduction[at]stonewall.co.za

Peaked your interest? Maybe, just maybe this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Get in touch - what do you have to lose? Oh, and if you know of anyone who fits the above descriptions, we also offer a R5000 referral commission. Go on then!

Andy Ellis and Piers Buckle, the award-winning editors of Men’s Health and Men’s Health Living magazines have joined to form an independent creative agency called TypeFace Media. Andy & Piers approached Stonewall with the brief to create a completely unconventional website reflective of their approach to business.

Working in close collaboration with them, our approach was to develop a Flash-based website that incorporates a Typeface character created from the typeface lettering, as well as a navigational mechanic designed to illustrate the fact that Typeface Media provides you with “any type of face you need”.

The finished product features wild, quirky animation and hilarious sound effects designed to entice the user to explore and discover some of the sites hidden gems. I like it. I like it a lot.

• Check out the website
• Check out their blog

I’m flabbergasted. The Eco Zoo (by McCann Erickson) is quite possibly the most amazing Papervision 3D website I’ve seen to date. Roxik (aka Masayuki Kido) is a Papervision 3D guru and he’s really broken the mold with this site.

To be honest, I’m not really sure what the site’s objective is. From what I can gather, the characters that live in the websites’ virtual zoo are meant to give you tips on living in a more eco-friendly way. Even though the website doesn’t seem to feature a strong call-to-action or a clear message, it’s just incredibly beautiful and engaging and entices you to explore.

There are so many intricate little details that one barely notices that all add up to form this amazing experience. The environment’s physics is insane - the falling leaves, the trees blowing in the wind, and not to mention the flag that you can actually pull and stretch and manipulate.

And please, oh please don’t forget to check out the Pop-Up Book… INSANE!

Ladies and gentlemen - the digital landscape is changing rapidly. The sky is really the limit … isn’t it exciting!?!

One of the biggest challenges a designer faces if simplifying the complex… creating order out of chaos. It’s our job to present data in an effective, visually elegant manner. More often than not, this can be accomplished with conventional methods of displaying data - paragraphs, tables, pie charts and the like, but from time to nature of the problem calls for a solution that’s far more creative and interesting. Add Flash to the mix, and throw in some Papervision 3D and you get Spectra Visual Newsreader.

It’s essentially an online RSS feed reader created by MSNBC.com in order to present masses of content in an interesting and engaging way. It allows the user select news channels grouped in categories and sub-categories, and then displays the headlines in a 3d space that can be explored.

As awesome as Spectra is, there method of displaying this data is one possible solution to the problem of presenting headlines in an innovative, non-linear way. The field of Data Visualization fascinates me, because the options are really limitless.

Here are a few links to get the juices flowing:

• Smashing Magazine’s article ~ Data Visualization: Modern Approaches
• Digg Labs
• Visual Complexity

Fantasy-Interactive (Fi) have just launched their highly anticipated new website. If any of you know Fi, you’ll know they are famous for creating highly engaging Flash portals and microsites. They were also the first company to enter the highly acclaimed FWA Hall of Fame. I must admit - I’m over the moon with the fact that they have opted for a non-Flash website. Here’s an extract from their website regarding the decision to use HTML:

Our sites used to reach out, grab the user, shake them vigorously and scream, “Made by Fantasy Interactive!” Fi was notorious for developing everything and anything in Flash, Today in Fi, you will only find Flash in places it needs to be and fits. Looking back over the past nine years, the average website has matured substantially. Choosing the correct technology is imperative for a company’s goals.

We’re just about to kick off the redesign of stonewall.co.za, and we’re also opting for an HTML-based website, but it’s taken some time to reach this decision. Sure, nothing can beat the fluidity and energy of a Flash website (provided you get it right), but gone are the days of “Flashmania” - Flash for Flash’s sake.

A short while ago, the anti-Flash argument usually went something like this:

Flash websites take ages to load, and search engines cannot read and index their content.

These days, this is totally untrue. If a Flash website is built right, it can be SUPER-fast, and search engines will index their content without any issues. That said, there is still a strong argument against using Flash purely “because we can”. The choice of technology should always be based around the requirements.

If the requirement is the rapid browsing and delivery of content, HTML simply can’t be beaten.

I could seriously talk about Flash vs HTML for hours, but rather than bore you, check out the comment chain on Fi’s blog (Think Swedish) in response to the new website - it’s far more juicy!