- Organization Name:
- White Oaks Art Council, Inc.
- Describe your creative piece – what is it and what has it been used for, and why is it innovative?
- ruidosoattractions.com is innovative in that it was designed in an all Flash format in order to use the internet to put this south-central New Mexico best image forward, "scenic beauty" (listed in visitor surveys as the number one appeal of the community. It is presents an eye-candy image, while being pretty much a portal site to other community business that have an investment in interactive. This view of Ruidoso is only possible because of Flash technology (in use with Dreamweaver and Photoshop). The technology allows small communities to visually compete with the Aspens, the Vails and the Jackson Holes. It is also possible because it's a non-commercial site (no pay for play positions of competing messages).
- What issue or problem were you working to address with this piece?
- The short answer is to present the destination as attractive because of its "scenic beauty." The long answer is complex, because it's at that point where visual design objectives run head-on into local politics (not a place a designer likes). Local commercial sites (www.ruidoso.net, still designed at 600px, and www.goruidoso.com) were cat fighting to be the "official" website of the Village of Ruidoso, NM. Their web designs were dominated by paid ad boxes and banners that overpowered any attempt to get the scenic beauty message across. They did, though, sufficently service low bandwidth users. The Arts Council developed the site at no cost, and was then contracted by the Village of Ruidoso to maintain it. This political problem was addressed by taking the high-bandwidth (thus high end/higher income) path with eye-candy and portal links to other business with an investment in their interactive product (one-page wonders are there, too, but clearly marked).
- How has your submission successfully impacted your organization’s ability to solve this issue/problem?
- We have a scenic beauty vehicle. The Village has a fulfillment site advertised on over a quarter million rack brochures, and on $200,000 in ads annually in largely niche advertising markets. The site is non-threatening to local commercial sites because they view it as Flash (heavy). We look upon it as representative of the destination's appeal. While it didn't save a whale, or feed a hungry population, it does address the life blood of the Ruidoso, New Mexico, community: tourism. (Until about a month ago the site was nested under another domain, so we won't have accurate stats on visits an page views for another 6 months, or so). While not a huge glamor issue, it represents how design technologies can impact small local communities.
