I was reading the newspaper online the other day, and part way through the article, I saw something move in my peripheral vision. Ignoring it, I read on, but there it was again - movement. It seemed to be coming from the Lamisil ad.
At the top of the ad was a digital drawing of a big toe, its flesh rose-colored, suggestive of infection. The nail was yellowed, the hues of the ad garish. Nothing, however, seemed to be moving. Below the infected toe was a gremlin. Its name, according to the ad, was “Digger,” and I would be able to access its “full story” by clicking on a little orange arrow. I stared at the gremlin just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It remained static for a full 10 seconds until - its eyes blinked!
Admittedly, I am new to the animation that proliferates the Web now. I only recently upgraded my circa 1996 homebuilt computer to a newer, more powerful homebuilt that is equipped to handle animation and video. Consequently, I’d missed out on the slow advent of moving images on the Web, instead experiencing them in one shocking exposure, making me feel a bit like Miles Monroe waking up in Sleeper.
Since upgrading, it’s been non-stop visual vertigo. I research hedge funds while ignoring a dancing couple. While reading about investment fraud, I try not to become distracted by a stockbroker holding an umbrella in a blizzard. After just a few months, I’ve grown weary of the animation clichés. I can’t tell you how many miniature cars have zipped across the top of my screen.
Online text itself is always sans serif, which seems only to add insult to injury, as everybody knows that sans serif fonts — those like Arial without the little serifs to guide the eye — are more difficult to read. It hardly seems fair to expect text, especially sans serif text, to compete with the spectre of a diseased toe.
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