4x4 Photoshop and Flash: Time/Stasis [Paperback]

Jeremy Tai Abbett (Author), Arron Bleasdale (Author), Karen Ingram (Author), Francine Spiegel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002 | ISBN-10: 1903450489 | ISBN-13: 978-1903450482 | Edition: 1

The 4x4 Project invited four leading web artists and designers to work together on the theme of "Time and Stasis". Each artist was commissioned to create a new Flash movie, to explain the how and the why, and finally, to swap files and remix each other's works.

All four authors are expert in combining Flash and Photoshop to create stunning effects, but any similarities end there.

• Jeremy Tai Abbett – creator of Suture.com
• Arron Bleasdale – creator of Reforms.net
• Karen Ingram – creator of Krening.com
• Francine Spiegel – creator of Tenderoni.com

Between them, the four authors represent the vast diversity of styles and approaches possible when the time-based animation of Flash is combined with the static, layered images from Photoshop to create intricate, inventive, animated environments and reactive effects. Their detailed explanations of how each piece was created form an invaluable primer in a wide range of techniques and skills.

This book and the accompanying website immerse the reader in the four phases of the 4x4 process:

• Theory: personal accounts of the creative process, manifestos, diaries, mental sketchbooks, and associated ephemera
• "Time and Stasis": access to the finished original Flash movies online, and stunning artwork from the pieces presented in the book
• Process: detailed, first-hand technical descriptions of the creation of each piece, along with original source files on the web site
• Noise and interference: the four authors discuss, sample and remix each other's works

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Flash is all about time and turning the flatland of the HTML web into a truly vibrant environment. Combining Flash with Photoshop allows designers to create complex, detailed images within the sophistication of Flash animation.

This book is perfect for:

Photoshop designers interested in seeing how Photoshop can work with Flash.

Flash designers interested to see how Photoshop can enhance Flash design.

Any professional designer who is interested in seeing how admired artists create original artwork.

Anyone looking for inspiration or insight into the processes of recognised design masters.

Any designer interested in engaging in peer review.

About the Author

A bio is not available for this author.

As a painting graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Karen Ingram started her design career as a pattern designer for a textile company in the southern United States. Leaving the world of ditsies, neats, jaquards, and foulards behind, she became involved in creating motion illustrations for the Web. Her experiments and collaborations are displayed at Krening.com. Karen has been profiled, featured, and reviewed in a number of online and printed publications such as This is a Magazine, Neomu, and Half Empty's first printed edition. Clients include Absolut Vodka, friends of ED, Spike TV, Monkeyclan, and Virgin Atlantic for Carlos Magazine. Karen has participated in many festivals and shows including FlashintheCan, in Toronto, Canada; BD4D, in London and New York; South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas; and Curvy, Design is Kinky, and Yen magazine's ladies designer showcase, in Sydney, Australia. Karen is a crew member of the Australian-based site DesignIsKinky.net, and is a happy news contributor at K10k.net.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: friendsofED; 1 edition (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1903450489
• ISBN-13: 978-1903450482
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,613,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More about the design process than the actual techniques...., March 12, 2002

By 

m.a.r.i.l.y.n (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 4x4 Photoshop and Flash: Time/Stasis (Paperback)

I bought the book hoping to learn some great techniques for making images in Photoshop, then exporting them for use in Flash. Instead I got a walkthrough of the mental processes of four artists asked to work on a central theme. It was interesting to see how they approached the project, and then implemented their vision, but "groundbreaking" or "new" technique was not to be found.

This book is more for "inspiration", something quickly made apparent by the artsy, but disjointed, layout. (While I like this approach for small leaflets or brochures, it made reading the long format book a chore.) Then again, even as a tool for jump-starting the imagination, the book could have been trimmed down in some areas, and fattened in others.

The remix section (where the artists look at one another's projects) was filled with useless chatter as opposed to examples of what they would have done with the same source material. That material is also denied to the reader, as no CD-Rom supplement is included. Some - any! - files for the reader to play with would have been a welcome addition. The screenshots of the work in progress were well done, but it neither makes this book unique, nor rescues it from poor content in other parts.

I really like the idea of the 4x4 series, but I found this book lacking in quality. If you'd like a design-oriented computer book for your collection, it *might* be worth checking out, but for instruction or technique, your book money is better spent elsewhere.

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and Inspritational, November 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: 4x4 Photoshop and Flash: Time/Stasis (Paperback)

Plain and simple, this book is fun! The tutorials are helpful and the design concepts are unique. The artists are amazingly creative and informative. I believe this book was created to help give digital artists a push into a some sort of direction. If curious as to how and what other digital artist are doing, check this book out!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Helpful tutorial, refreshing approach to Design, February 13, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: 4x4 Photoshop and Flash: Time/Stasis (Paperback)

As a designer, I have only dabbled in Flash. I picked up this book because there were four tutorials in it that I thought would be helpful. I had seen the sites of the designers and was intrigued with their work- Hey, why not improve my Flash skills with a tutorial by people I have heard of? ...

The tutorials were extremely helpful and interesting. I found the authors insightful with admirable know-how for combining Flash and Photoshop. I found the details of their creative process inspiring, and the detailed technical process very educational.

Using the Friends of Ed website ... to reinforce what I was learning was fabulous. There I was able to explore options with the files the designers used to create their masterpieces.