Flash Web Design [Paperback]

Hillman Curtis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2000

For courses in Flash and Web Design. Flash is the perfect tool for creating immersive, interactive, and animated Web site design, and Flash Web Design teaches you to use it to its full potential. The book is broken into two sections: The Essentials and Case Studies. The Essentials section covers the basics of Flash production, illuminating how and why Flash works. The second section is a series of case studies and deconstructions based on projects and problems the author has faced with his clients. Each of these case studies begins by getting the reader to think about the processes and ideas behind specific designs. Flash Web Design is geared toward professional Web designers and content creators who want to make their site stand out from the typical noise of the Web. This book assumes readers have some experience with Web design and animation, but it does not assume previous work with Flash.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Learning from the best is always a good idea, especially when the best in the field is adept at explaining his methods. In Flash Web Design, Hillman Curtis, a renowned Web developer (particularly in motion graphics) walks you through nine enlightening Flash projects in order of increasing complexity.

Curtis calls these exercises "deconstructions," and it's an apt term. All the finished pieces can be viewed on Curtis's site (www.hillmancurtis.com/book). With his help, you reconstruct each Flash movie with no step overlooked. They range from type animation (Macromedia Shockzone) to his bandwidth-skinny (20K) navigational, an interactive media site created with action scripting, a streaming visual poem with MP3 audio and many other techniques. The spots are all aesthetically elegant, vibrant, and cutting-edge in terms of design and typography and are even a pleasure to work with.

The author is first and foremost a designer. The book demonstrates the importance of conceptualizing the clients' needs and how to preplan and storyboard the projects. It documents the motivations behind even the smallest design decisions, making this book valuable as a teaching tool and not just a grab bag of hotshot how-tos. Each project takes time, but even beginners can re-create the Flash movies. The steps are clearly explained and illustrated with screen shots. The artwork, however, is not provided. To work along with the deconstructions, readers will have to create similar art, film, and sound files.

Those aware of Hillman Curtis's work will also be familiar with that of the book's designer, Todd Purgason of Juxt Interactive (juxtinteractive.com). The layout for Flash Web Design evokes the layered, motion-through-structure style of Purgason's Web design (lundstromarch.com) and makes one wish the book also existed in movie format. In fact, Purgason's methodology is presented in the last chapter, where he shows the benefits of using Freehand in conjunction with Flash. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Step-by-step case studies re-create existing Flash projects that range in complexity. Projects include type animation, navigational screens, working with wireframe art, converting vectorized video, working with streaming MP3 audio, using action scripting for interactivity, and going from Freehand sketches to finished Flash movies.

From the Publisher

Simply: This is the first Flash book for designers. Hillman Curtis has establised himself, particularly through hillmancurtis.com, as a leader in motion graphics design for the web. His use of Macromedia Flash has further legitimized it as a tool that goes far beyond the creation of onscreen gizmotics; Flash becomes a prime tool for any web designer with a passion for the next level of possibilities presented by the innovative use of motion graphics on the web.

With web design today, solutions are important, perhaps moreso than opinion and rhetoric. As such, Hillman has created a book that is tutorial-based deconstruction, as opposed to pages and pages of opinion and pretty pictures of 'example' websites.

Hillman and friends succinctly tell us what they think is worth noting and learning, what is good motion-graphics design. Then they show us how it is done. And we take it from there with our own web design.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Publishing; 1st edition (March 24, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735708967
• ISBN-13: 978-0735708969
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,600,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 71 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars All FLash developers in Industry and Education pay attention April 11, 2000

By Mark Messer

Format:Paperback

I had the opportunity to meet Hillman, and this book definitley reflects his vast knowledge and conceptual thinking of design before any project is even started within Flash.

You need to pay close attention to those elements of the book. Read them over and over and learn it! It's not because you need that background to do the projects in the book, in fact Hillman makes it quite easy to follow along with him on the projects. It is because you want to be able to learn why and how, so you can develop and tweak your conceptual, planning, and design skills.

Bottom line is, this is the best Flash book that I have. (I've got a lot of them)

If you don't have it, GET IT!

Thanks to Hillman for taking the time to share his talents and knowledge with all of us in this book.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Buy for Anyone Working with Flash July 31, 2000

By Joe Bartlett

Format:Paperback

Where most would consider the Flash Bible as the "meat and potatoes" of Flash technology, this book can easily be qualified as the icing on the cake. Or perhaps that is not the best way to describe this wonderful book by Hillman Curtis since there is little or no fluff contained therein.

Mr. Curtis has taken the medium to new heights in "Flash Web Design," a simply titled book that delivers exactly as promised. This is "the" how-to for designing a great Flash website. It not only covers the mechanical aspects, but teaches the visual design as well. If you read this book and still produce "ugly" sites, the fault does not lie on Hillman Curtis!

And Mr. Curtis brings these aspects of design into the book itself, creating a visually spectacular, easy-to-follow guide to illustrate every lesson. With a little basic knowledge of Flash, one can take the lessons contained within and begin producing wonderful sites within a few days.

This is a great resource for anyone from the novice user to the professional.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Some miss the point... June 26, 2000

By Christopher Figat

Format:Paperback

For those who complain that there's not any actionscripting or more technical knowledge covered and that the book is just about design then you're not getting it, THIS BOOK IS ABOUT DESIGN (and it actually looks like a designer's book, something else I love about it). This isn't a technical manual by any means, though there is some insightful info on the Flash techniques used to vectorize video and optimizing movies for the web (among other things). Hillman Curtis talks about the process behind some of his work, how things are conceptualized and put together, and some of his basic theories behind motion design and Flash animation. If you're buying this looking for a bunch of how-to's then you'll probably be dissapointed, but if you're looking for an inspirational look into some of the most effective animation on the web then look no further. I strongly recommend this book, and I'd suggest picking up Flash 4 Magic as well. The two together cover the creative and technical spectrum of Flash design and complement each other perfectly.