In the early stages of a video project, we always work on the video design. Sometimes clients may come to us with an idea or concept in mind which may include visual cues or not. Some clients know what they want to say but have no idea of how to say it, both in script or visuals. During the video design stage we brainstorm ideas of how the video is going to flow, what is going to keep all the information together. Working with the client’s design identity is always a good start. The logo may hold visual elements which can be transported into the design of the video. If the video has a spokesperson, the design may be considerably different from that of a video with narration alone. The video design stage of a project is always exciting and you never know what you might end up with.

As we are always creating new videos for clients, we are always expanding the DDA video portfolio. The preliminary version of the DDA Video website has 30 screens which display 30 different video categories. An individual project is featured for each of the categories. In a secondary version of the site, we started creating “Double Features” to showcase a couple projects under one category. With our portfolio steadily growing, it was foreseeable that we would need triple features and quadruple features, but that would just be silly.

We are planning a large update to the DDA Video site with some added features. The most important being the addition of secondary “galleries” to the individual 30 categories. Using XML, we are able to create a list of videos that fit within one category and the user can flip through screen shots to decide which video they want to watch. As the website uses a single smart swf file on all of the 500+ pages, we have also programmed it in such a way that we can still reference or link directly to a specific project using the “location.search” code.

Another added feature will be the PicLens browser plugin support. This will allow you to see all of DDA’s videos in one large, full-screen scrolling 3D wall. This feature truly emphasizes DDA’s extreme capabilities in creating exciting, informative and diverse videos.

It is amazing how a simple adjustment to a font can add so much to the look of a project. It can grab the viewers attention, allow important words to stand out, and truly make a project stand out above the rest. Here at DDA Video, we collaborate with the graphic designers to bring their design skills to our video projects. There is a lot more to text than it may seem. Changes can be made to font style, size, color and even spacing. Our graphic designers know the power that can be generated by the perfect type and make adjustments to the text so it fits perfectly with the rest of the project. This adds to the already professional look and feel of our video projects and turns the project into a work of art!