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Summary: Thoughtful, timely material for anyone in design biz..
Review: .
Hillam Curtis, veritable Flash mavens as they are, show less interest in spewing out a snazzy graphic-design treatise or a 'Web Graphics for The Rest of Us' series of tips stash on how to make your designs ooze sex appeal. They offer instead a rather refreshing and long overdue thoughtpiece on 'New Media' design that is not confined to the web. Our world has obviously chugged along since the days of whimsical DHTML and the other Nielsenesque extreme of prosaic "usability for everything", and we now have truly new mediums, modern technologies that need increasingly intelligent designing for. This book presents some of the most practical, common-sensical ideologies to deal with such new-fangled challenges. Several philosophical elements of creative design are discussed, and while such rhetoric may not be everyone's bag, the writing is real-worldly and intuitive enough to be engrossing. What makes it an outstanding book though is the smart undercurrent of design as an art of 'problem solving', with its primary agenda of identifying and meeting goals that target users expect from the medium they interact with. You won't find tips, techniques and code snippets here except when inevitable to illustrate an idea. When we discuss color for instance, we talk about the affective influences of colour on people, not Pantene decimals or the spokes of a colour wheel. Discussing typography is not about quaint typefaces or font sizes but about leading the reader into the information, aiding and facilitating communication. The illustrations are fresh, exciting and for anyone related to design, veritably inspiring. Is this required reading in graphic design courses yet? It should be. It certainly could be. A highly recommended reading for anyone in the business of design.
Rating: 
Summary: I believed the hype ...
Review: and paid the price. Here's my take on it. Process. Hillman Curtis makes good points about identifying and listening to your audience. Also he warns us, don't get too wrapped up in your design; remember it is the client's web site and their objectives come first. Inspiration. Curtis recounts several tales about how he gets inspired; but after a few weeks he realizes his "flash" just isn't serving any real purpose, so he goes back to basics. Curtis' claim to fame appears to be the design of the Adobe web site. You decide - is the Adobe web site a source of inspiration for you? Practice. In this section Hillman defers to other notable web authors, including articles by Joseph Lowery and Steve Krug. These authors are good, but I already have their books. There is also information in this section by other authors on type, font and color. It is all very basic. For example, an entire page is devoted to identifying 12 colors (count em, twelve) as either primary, tertiary or secondary. As an added bonus, red is identified as warm and green as cool. The slick pages in this book make it too expensive for what you get in return - a glossy photo of Chris Hillman on the cover.
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Summary: Did Hillman write this with me in mind?
Review: As a Medill New Media faculty member at Northwestern University, I've been searching for the perfect text to support my class on online storytelling. Hillman Curtis has finally put the write combination of inspiration and technology, along with new media definitions together. Our class focuses on the content and Hillman never forgets this. His talent for finding inspiration in the obstacles and limitations in new media design/development are the techniques I strive to give my students. Thank you Hillman - a great book in every way!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Believe the Hype
Review: Do we really need another book on how this guy designs things? Do we really need the constant name dropping of all the people he has worked with, met, or is inspired by? For someone who claims they are influenced by a variety of sources, why can I immediately pick out a work by Hillman Curtis? The purpose of good design is to give your client an identity of THEIR OWN. This rule also applies for Juxt Interactive. (Just one of the many names dropped throughout the book.) Save your money and time. Self serving, self congratulatory, name dropping books like this will hardly make you a better designer. Hard work, innovative thinking, and books by the masters of design will put you on the right path.
Rating: 
Summary: it was okay
Review: he brings up some good points but overall i felt it lacked real substance.
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Summary: The Tao of Design
Review: Hillman encapsulates what is seemingly basic. As we move ahead in design or any field, experience often tells us what is basic. These are the very principals that need review-refinement. Hillman at times seems to harp on that which is obvious, but with good reason. Doing the simple expertly makes the difficult simple. The contributors insight into technologies that seem esoteric (XML,XSLT), are prophecy indeed. If in doubt take a look at some of the files in MAC O/S 10 or at XML.com. An insightful read but not for those looking for a cookbook. Inspiration, which I value more than how-to, at a great value.
Rating:
Summary: The Tao of Design
Review: Hillman encapsulates what is seemingly basic. As we move ahead in design or any field, experience often tells us what is basic. These are the very principals that need review-refinement. Hillman at times seems to harp on that which is obvious, but with good reason. Doing the simple expertly makes the difficult simple. The contributors insight into technologies that seem esoteric (XML,XSLT), are prophecy indeed. If in doubt take a look at some of the files in MAC O/S 10 or at XML.com. An insightful read but not for those looking for a cookbook. Inspiration, which I value more than how-to, at a great value.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: Hillman makes a good pied piper. I really enjoyed his writing. He has wonderful insights on the most obvious lesson of business...listening to the client. I loved how he summed up our jobs as designers and communicators: "Making the invisible visible". His concept of "Eating the audience" is , well, right on. Best of all, these inspiring musings apply to all designers and artists, not just new media designers. The book is divided into 3 parts: Process, Inspiration, and Practice...it was all so good until Hillman stopped writing. The "Practice" section was horrible! I appreciated the "Process" model he set forth, the techniques for problem solving and client dealings used at hillmancurtis, inc. It is a great outline as to how to approach new projects -- a lot of the ideas I already employ, but some were new to me. That alone is worth the purchase price of the book. The "Inspiration" section included a varied treasure of real world examples of "out-of-the box" creativity, with sources ranging from film to paintings, and of course more quotable quotes. Hillman discusses how his company sparks new ideas by sharing inspiration. I hate to say it, but this is when the let down began. I always enjoy hearing about what inspires people and this section was entirely too short, with the unused space taken up by the next section, "Practice", like a big black hole. Don't get me wrong, I understand where Hillman was going with this. He wanted to make this book relevant for new media designers and not just a general book on inspiration. But he waited until the very end to have guest writers include their takes on certain design rules and new technologies. My biggest problems with this section have to do with the technologies discussed like xml (a technology that has yet to surface as a true standard in web publishing) and articles like web layout, that only a newbie could learn anything from.
Rating:
Summary: Good writing, good examples, good analogies,but...
Review: Hillman makes a good pied piper. I really enjoyed his writing. He has wonderful insights on the most obvious lesson of business...listening to the client. I loved how he summed up our jobs as designers and communicators: "Making the invisible visible". His concept of "Eating the audience" is , well, right on. Best of all, these inspiring musings apply to all designers and artists, not just new media designers. The book is divided into 3 parts: Process, Inspiration, and Practice...it was all so good until Hillman stopped writing. The "Practice" section was horrible! I appreciated the "Process" model he set forth, the techniques for problem solving and client dealings used at hillmancurtis, inc. It is a great outline as to how to approach new projects -- a lot of the ideas I already employ, but some were new to me. That alone is worth the purchase price of the book. The "Inspiration" section included a varied treasure of real world examples of "out-of-the box" creativity, with sources ranging from film to paintings, and of course more quotable quotes. Hillman discusses how his company sparks new ideas by sharing inspiration. I hate to say it, but this is when the let down began. I always enjoy hearing about what inspires people and this section was entirely too short, with the unused space taken up by the next section, "Practice", like a big black hole. Don't get me wrong, I understand where Hillman was going with this. He wanted to make this book relevant for new media designers and not just a general book on inspiration. But he waited until the very end to have guest writers include their takes on certain design rules and new technologies. My biggest problems with this section have to do with the technologies discussed like xml (a technology that has yet to surface as a true standard in web publishing) and articles like web layout, that only a newbie could learn anything from.
Rating:
Summary: All Style and No Substance
Review: I bought this book with the hope that I would learn something beyond the basics. Instead I had the pleasure of going through 11 pages of color charts, basic XML, how to find inspiration, and hardly anything to do with Flash itself. Isn't that what this guy is noted for? He's still siting the same Web sites as he did in Flash Design V4. Wasn't that book published a couple of years a go? Where's the Flash? The book is beautifully designed, but this is simply not enough to give it a higher mark. By the way, the design wasn't even done by Hillman Curtis. It was designed by Rooster. Good thing Hillman is using MTIV for all of his projects. Save your money.
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