Product Description

MTIV (Making the Invisible Visible) is an indispensable guide for the new age of media design. This book is about HOW to achieve the results that bring in profits and make you a better designer. This beautifully written and designed book unveils the methods behind Hillman Curtis' phenomenal success as a new media designer. In well-crafted narrative and instructional form, Hillman outlines his systematic approach for working with clients to develop clear, cogent, and creative communication - three "musts" for successful design.

Through trial and error, Hillman and his company honed a seven-step process for creating concepts, and developing and designing new media. Often overlooked or unknown by designers, the methods in this book are distilled from years of experience and enhanced by Hillman's years as a leader in the design field. Divided into three parts - "Process," "Inspiration," and "Practice" - the book offers a practical methodology for successful artistic and professional work and also offers technical advice for translating this to the web (color, XML, streaming media, and other topics are discussed). Written with a subtle sense of humor and narration that really flows, this book is a joy to read, with great advice that helps designers with their own design work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #276606 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.com
With his first book, Flash Web Design, Hillman Curtis quickly earned Flash guru status, and deservedly so. Like the coolest mentor one could ever hope to find, he struck a chord with his audience by sharing not just the nuts and bolts behind his Flash creations, but his ideas on good design methodology.

MTIV expands on that. Here he shares his respect and excitement for new media, gives a blueprint for design challenges of all types, taps into the myriad visual and literary inspirations that fuel his imagination, and shows readers how to get past their own moments of "designer's block."

Curtis is a fine storyteller. He takes anecdotes of coffee breaks, book tour lectures, work, life, and art, and weaves them around design maxims. For every morsel of advice, there are three or four personal stories that illustrate how he arrived at it and puts it to use. He shows how books, movies, print ads--just about anything--can be used in the search for creative solutions.

The seven steps in "Process" compose the bulk of the book. These are the exact steps Curtis's design team applies to each project. Without giving too much away, they are Listen, Unite, Theme, Concept, Filter, Justify, and Eat the Audience. (Well, you'll just have to get the book to find out about that last one.)

In "Inspiration," we learn that Curtis draws from Hemingway, Mies van der Rohe, Sidney Lumet, David Mamet, Leonard Cohen, Mark Rothko, and Joseph Müller-Brockman, among others. And the book finishes with a bang in the third chapter, "Practice," a collection of helpful tips in typography, color theory, XML, grids, and much more, from experts like Joseph Lowery (author of the Dreamweaver Bible) and usability authority Steve Krug.

MTIV is not just an easy read, it's fun, warm, encouraging, and, yes, inspiring. A self-taught artist, Curtis has made MTIV the perfect Boy Scout manual for those who have stumbled on design as a new career or just languished through too many uninspired afternoons in front of the computer. --Angelynn Grant

From the Publisher
MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer is an indispensable guide about HOW to approach commercial design and become a better designer. This beautifully written and designed book unveils the methods behind Hillman Curtis' phenomenal success as a New Media designer. In well-crafted narrative and instructional form, Hillman outlines his systematic approach for working with clients to develop clear, cogent, and creative communication - three "musts" for successful design. Through trial and error, Hillman and his company honed a seven-step process for creating concepts, developing and designing New Media. Often overlooked or unknown by designers, the methods in this book are distilled from years of experience, and enhanced by years as a leader in the design field. Divided into three parts - Process, Inspiration and Practice - the book offers a practical methodology for successful artistic and professional work. Hillman poignantly explores the works and ideas of writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians that influence his own creative mind and offers insight into how others may learn to identify their influences as well. The third section, "Practice," is a diverse collection of instructional essays from design experts, covering cutting-edge technologies, color theory, and font use, to name a few. Lined with a subtle sense of humor and narration that really flows, this book is a joy to read and offers great advice to help designers with their own design work.

From the Author
Why I wrote this book

I have a really varied background. I studied creative writing and film theory in school. Dropped out to tour the UK in a rock band...hitched across America alone after reading On the Road by Kerouac (paperback edition from Penguin USA)...and worked every job you can imagine, from dishwasher to housepainter to waiter to nightclub bartender to warehouse worker...so from studying writing and film I gained the ability to recognize themes, but from the horrible jobs I gained this ability to recognize a blessing when I see one...and being a designer is, for me, a blessing. So I honor and respect it and think about it all of the time. I think about ways to improve how I design, how I concept, and how I can more efficiently communicate those invisible themes. What I want to accomplish with this book is this: I want to share our proven process, and I want to impart the respect and excitement I feel for New Media design. Also I want to pack it full of inspirational images...I want it to be a book that designers open while blocked, while looking for ideas, or while questioning their worth as New Media designers. In other words I want to write a book for myself...hopeful that I'm not alone.

Customer Reviews

reinvigorated!
I bought this, flipped through it a couple of times, then tossed it aside. A few years later, I decided to look through it again. This time, after about 15 pages in, I started to get inspired. I was concurrently redesigning my website, and it spoke to that process and, and also of collaboration. This book may reinvigorate your motivation and inspiration for new media design.

Very recommended, lots of insight about creative practice
I'm just starting to learn about design, reading online and checking some books at the library of my college. This book is a great help because it does tell you the key fact that all ideas are there, borrowing is ok to transform something into a new well crafted thing,and you can find inspiration in many, many ways. Many useful information, tips, quotes, in general, I'm gonna buy this book for my collection.

Worthless!
Self appointed maestro trys to teach common sense! If you don't inherently know this then you probably have no business being in this business!