Animated Icons Info & Poll

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 11:38 am Post subject:

i'm jumping in a bit late- heres my opinion on it

i personally hate animations in the catalog pictures

but there are times they are okay

-they need to have a purpose ( if the product has animations for example show it)

- they should not give me a headache.
-time them to be every 10 seconds or about if your catalog is filled with these
- tone down the colors! i hate animations which include the product and the background! do one or the other please!

with all that said i dont feel its imvu's job to monitor it, even if we thought this it wouldn't happen. People who are unwilling to abide by a few rules of common sense deserve to lose the customers.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:34 pm Post subject:

ok bou, thanks for looking. it was between my products and correspondences (messages) panels.

it's a goldish background with ns designs on it and the word fan animated to appear and disappear. i was thinking of making it a slower one to fade in and out, but i don't think i have those files any longer. lol!

if anyone else sees it, please let me know if i should slow it up some or change the effect any. it always helps me to get input from others on this sort of thing.

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:43 am Post subject:

K .... Just have to ask this then.... If images like these are okay, i use animated images for my skins and i dont wont people to get seizures from my catalog pictures. I think they are okay, but then again i dont get seizures from catalog icons, particles etc. If they do bother people i will be changing tthem or atleast make them slower from now on. For those who have problems with seizures due to animated images, i just red this in a group im in and not sure if it was mentioned in her, but pressing ESC will stop animations on a page.

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Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:30 am Post subject:

Yours seems fine to me reflex.

I think they were talking more about the icons that move very fast or have bright flashy colors. Like one dev i know has a prodcut pic which then flashes to their logo which is very bightly colored then back again. it's hard to see what the item is and the bright color falshing for no reason is bad on the eyes.

Yours seems to have a good transition between the pics so they should be fine.
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Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

Oopsy I tripped Twisted Evil

Still relevant & a new user asked about animations soooooooooooooo
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:17 pm Post subject:

Personally I am very sensitive to flashing icons and they give me a massive headache even upset stomach. I find I do not shop if there is animated icons.

if I am in a catalog and all the thumbs are flashing, omg look out I am out with the quickness.

Reflex the one u just showed was perfect.

Because on my sensitivities I will not use flashing icons.
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 4:37 pm Post subject:

i personally do use animation in my icons. i sell alot of hair and find a slow shifting icon that shows the product from different angles (in this case) is a good thing. many still shots dont really show the product very well as far as hair goes, and seem to always focus on the best possible shot and can be misleading. sure people can argue that is what the try it button is for but in my opinion it has helped my sales by giving a full product presentation right in the icon for hair. also for animations, like dances and moves etc, a gif showing a short clip of the move in the icon is awesome for marketing and people are more likely to clicky a moving icon that shows the animation of what your selling if presented right. to me the whole ad , icon included is part of a presentation, the more attractive and appealing and the more it stimulates as many senses as we can the better. this is my opinion, nothing more. as far as t being harmful to some, well yes im sure it can be, but an ad is effect a commercial, and i would imagine there are many things related to advertising in the real world also that would have the same effect on these people. flashing billboards, neon lights, some tv commericalsas examples....no i dont feel we should alter our marketing if it works for us and is presenting a good presentation to people that stimulates their senses because some are senstive to flashy stuff, if that was the case there are mnay forms of advertising here and in the real world that should conform for these people. but i am a newyorker and i dont see times square becoming less flashy in the billboards and ads there anytime soon hehe...
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:11 pm Post subject:

I hear & understand your pov darksun, but I wonder if you read the rest of the thread before you posted?

I only mention it as several peeps who began with your pov later changed their minds after being made more aware of the facts surrounding the issue & I've seen the lights in Times Square....they don't equate with the fast moving flashing brightly coloured icons in the skin dept etc

Also, over here we have very very strict guidelines as to what can & can't be done & ALL strobe effects etc come with warnings written on them in BIG letters as do television programs that contains strobes etc. Neon isn't a photosensitivity problem....it's just ugly mostly LOL

If your own icons (I haven't checked) have reasonable colours, are phased instead of flashing & only cycle 2/4 frames per second than they shouldn't fall into the categories under discussion here

I would post an example of a REALLY painful icon, but forum rules prevent me from doing so unless I create one of my own & I don't have animation shop atm so I can't go that route
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:23 pm Post subject:

i see yours and many others who have spoke heres pov also boutoo =)
and i agree many icons are simply to much. with that said i would like to show some of my icons as examples to see if they are ok or not for these types of people.

a typical hair icon i would use

some animated product examples

i think the way i animate my icons is ok for marketing and the sensitive people but would like to hear it if they arent.

DS
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 5:38 pm Post subject:

Okay....all together they're a bit much.BUT taken individually they're mostly ok.the only suggestion I would make is that rather than have the "by DS" as a page within the the icon, have your lil logo on every page in exactly the same place instead.

The hair one is the easiest on the eye other than that; so if you use that one as a guide & make just that one change yours should be safe (& they'll be more effective looking too Wink

)
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sam4fun4ever 172 Joined: 05 May 2007 Posts: 1331

yeah.... i made my icon carefully coz i know some ppl getting headache..
but i like flashy style.. lol...
well can anyone who have probz pls comments on my icons below r they too flashy or not...

*

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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

thanks muchly boutoo , your advice is good, ive been contemplating doing what you said for alittle while hehe, guess i should work on the icons alittle more.

sam i think your icons are great, and the animation is very slow, i wouldnt imagine those would be a problem.
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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject:

Okay Sam.....

Your flash is slow enough.BUT it's white on dark which creates a strobing effect..............headache city

How's about colouring it to a mid shade of cerise pink or similar? I don't think it'd be painful then as it's the white that's hurting me personally....I haven't seen Ayla since I got back so I don't know if she's still around or not & she's the best person to ask as she's the one who actually fits if exposed for too long etc

One thing I would ask of both of you is could you please edit your posts to space out the icons quite a bit more please? Having them so close together is like trying to watch 2 diff kaleidoscopes at the same time :$
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sam4fun4ever 172 Joined: 05 May 2007 Posts: 1331

ok.. here u go..
is this still too flashy?

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Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject:

Most of the icons in my gallery are static. However, animated icons bring my bundles more appeal and I have experimented this, so I shall continue to create them.

I am also quite sensitive to flashing lights so for that same reason, I have quite the eye friendly animated icons and have not as of yet received any complaints about my icons.

My recommendations are as follows:

1. Select a background colour/pattern and stick with it.
2. Have your images switch in about 1.5 second intervals (1500ms for those of you using GIMP). It will allow most viewers to view and process the image of the product without causing them too much stress.
3. Be cautious of overkill. If your entire gallery consists of animated icons, take in mind that it is more likely to cause others to leave your shop than stay.

Here is an example of one of my icons for a bundle:
(I shall remove if it bothers anyone)

Another animated icon (as expertly created by Visnova for one of his avatars):