ScaleNine

A lot of great resources, information and articles have popped up since I first started ScaleNine a little over a month ago. Some of the points brought up in some of the articles below are exactly why I started this site.

Articles
http://kuwamoto.org/2007/02/05/overcoming-design-laziness/
http://www.onflex.org/ted/2007/02/gradient-20-and-picnikcom-photo-editing.php

Training - Learn to create a visual experience in Flex 2
http://www.adobe.com/support/training/instructor_led_curriculum/program_visual_experience.html
http://www.totaltraining.com/prod/adobe/flex2_avp.asp

Along with all that there are more great looking Flex apps bubbling to the surface. Picnik has been getting a lot of well deserved attention for what they’ve done visually with it. They have also shown that creating a unique interface and user experience goes beyond something that’s visually appealing, it adds value with something a user is going to remember and want to come back to.

Examples:
http://www.picnik.com
http://www.flip.com/flipbooks

If you haven’t already check out Ted Patrick’s Flickr compilitation of other great Flex apps.

These are all great links I plan on adding to the ScaleNine resources page and homepage for future consumption.

Here’s a great example by Eylon Stroh of some skinning of a Flex 2 application. It’s taken a step further by using programmatic skinning. A hand-drawn feeling theme is on my “to be created” list, so it’s neat seeing something similar to what I had in mind.

Check out the source here : http://www.thebetterside.com/scrawl/srcview/

Originally the Obsidian theme was used as part of a quick experiment I did using Flickr (before their latest API version) and Ely Greenfield’s Display Shelf Component. I wanted to see what I could do visually with other Flex 2 samples I found. It’s neat seeing what a little stylin’ can do to dress up an app.

The app has a few bugs since Flickr changed to their api, but I thought I’d post it just the same. Who knows, maybe someone will download the source and fix the bugs.

Based on Rich Tretola’s example mentioned in my last post, I created a Theme Swapper app using the Flex 2.0.1 runtime CSS feature. It swaps between three of the graphical themes I created (Obsidian, iTunes 7, and WMP 11 themes).

See it here: http://scalenine.com/samples/themeSwapper/themeSwap.html or view the source.

I found a great example by Rich Tretola on how to switch styles at runtime in Flex 2.0.1. I think I might try to put together a quick example too using the themes I created.

I’ve been looking forward to the inclusion of runtime css in flex 2.0.1. The new FlexStore sample (click on the flex store logo) and a post by Ted Patrick are examples of this new feature. I’m thinking of incorporating runtime CSS in a flex app on the themes page so you can see the themes I’ve created change a sample flex app right in front of your eyes. Good stuff.