Critiques of Flash graphics for the elections
Katie Ratcliffe, a graphics editor with Agence France-Presse, interviewed multimedia journalism educators Alberto Cairo, Laura Ruel and me about some major Flash packages that covered U.S. election topics. The interview (complete with links to the Flash graphics) is at The Editors Weblog.
I like this comment by Laura in particular:
What those who create presentations need to do is think more critically about the strengths/weakness of all storytelling options available. The value of Web-based storytelling is that the reporter/designer/producer is not limited by any one storytelling method. Immersive experiences use the best medium for each part of the message and wrap that into a integrated, seamless multimedia experience.
And Alberto pointed out:
You need to train and specialize people. Forget about doing interactive presentations without any investment. Convince yourself that the Internet is not a threat, but a huge opportunity.
My advice is to get the print information graphics desk involved and make at least a couple of hires that would work for the website full time. One of them would be an information graphics artist with animation, 3D and interaction design skills. The other one would be a journalist/designer (an artist might be my choice) with deep Actionscript, XML and PHP knowledge. You cannot survive without someone that has those kinds of skills. Online presentations are not about ‘translating’ your print infographics to the Web, that never works. It’s about understanding what the languages (and the limitations) of the Web are.
One of the first steps is NOT to start learning a new software program but rather to understand usability and information design. A great place to begin is with the very short, very readable book Don’t Make Me Think, by Steve Krug.
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