Hot Wiring Your Creative Process

Design philosophies can be useful, but inspiration, creative strategies, and efficient work habits are what really get the job done. Designer, instructor, and author Curt Cloninger provides a multitude of strategies, tools, and practices that readers can use to inject a big dose of creativity into just about any design project. With illustrations drawn from 20th-century French philosophy, medieval manuscripts, punkrock posters, and more, Curt’s innovative text introduces readers to his personal toolkit for hot-wiring the creative process. You’ll learn strategies to: • Recognize and believe in your creative powers • Develop effective methods for evaluating your own work • Draw inspiration from the past • Use standard software in experimental ways, and find nonstandard applications to create new effects • Maintain a personal design playground • Mine your subconscious with the Oblique Strategies Cards, developed by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt • Un-stick your imagination by “blitz-designing” mock-ups Curt Cloninger is an artist, designer, author, and instructor in Multimedia Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. His book Fresh Styles for Web Designers: Eye Candy from the U nderground (New Riders, 2002) is an industry standard on creative Web design solutions. Curt’s art and design work has been featured in I.D. Magazine, HOW Magazine, The New York Times, Desktop Magazine, and at digital arts festivals from Korea to Brazil. He regularly speaks at international events such as HOW Design, South by Southwest, Web Design World, and FILE. His pirate signal broadcasts from lab404.com to facilitate lively dialog.

Create Fantastic Web Sites with Advice From Some of the Best in the Industry Professional Web Design presents guidelines for professional Web development, including communicating with clients, creating a road map to a successful portfolio, rules for professional networking, and tips on designing user interfaces for business Web applications. Inside you’ll find some of the best of Smashing Magazine’s coverage of professional Web design and the business side of Web development, with advice from trusted experts who will help you learn how to respond effectively to design criticism, use storytelling for a better user experience, and apply color theory to your professional designs. Topics covered include: Harsh Truths about Corporate Web Site – Paul Boag Portofolio Design Study: Design Patterns – Vitaly Friedman Creating a Successful Online Portfolio – Sean Hodge Better User Experience with Storytelling – Francisco Inchauste Designing User Interfaces for Business Web Applications – Janko Jovanovic Progressive Enhancement and Standards Do Not Limit Web Design – Christian Heilmann Color Theory for Professional Designers – Cameron Chapman Is John the Client Dense or Are You Failing Him? – Paul Boag How to Identify and Deal with Different Types of Clients – Robert Bowen How to Respond Effectively to Design Criticism – Andrew Follett Web Designer’s Guide to Professional Networking – Steven Snell Expert Advice for New Web Designers – Various Proving clear, concise advice from industry experts, Professional Web Design will help you get started on creating fantastic Web sites with top tips and advice from some of the best in the industry. Smashing Magazine (smashingmagazine.con) is one of the world’s most popular Web-design online magazines. True to the Smashing mission, the Smashing Magazine book series delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers.

The acclaimed French auteur behind the mind-bending modern classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Michel Gondry has directed a number of innovative, ground-breaking films and documentaries, episodes of the acclaimed television show Kidding and some of the most influential music videos in the history of the medium. In this collection, a range of international scholars offers a comprehensive study of this significant and influential figure, covering his French and English-language films and videos, and framing Gondry as a transnational auteur whose work provides insight into both French/European and American cinematic and cultural identity. With detailed case studies of films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), The Science of Sleep (2006), Microbe & Gasoline (2015) and Mood Indigo (2013), this collection will appeal to readers interested in the various media in which Gondry has worked, and in contemporary post-modern French and American cinema in general.