Blur Effect

Blurry Cursor

I originally created this effect for the old ERA404 web site when we were using the “Not Found” themes, but the concept was deprecated when we updated our marketing strategy. Since I really loved the result, I was happy to see a need for this script arise again during the creation of the Who is Augustine? site, created for Jonathan Safran Foer and his first novel, Everything is Illuminated. You can see the effect employed if you click on Augustine’s glasses in the link that takes you into her house.

People have asked how this was created and its actually quite simple. Rather than explain it, I’ve provided a zip for you to download to see the simple code involved. If you have questions, feel free to post comments.

Click here to download the source.

Cursor Illusion

Cursor Illusion

This is a pretty basic example of custom cursors in Actionscript which, when coupled with a fake drop shadow and a background image that further provokes the illusion, makes a cool effect. Granted you don’t actually have to turn the arrow cursor backwards for the effect to be achieved, but us lefties like the occasional positive reinforcement.

Again, since this effect is so simple, I’ve decided to just attach a zip of the source so you can download it and figure it out on your own. If you have questions, feel free to post comments.

Download the source files here.
This zip contains all project files for the Flash Example “Cursor Illusion”.