Eclectic Praise for Digital Foundations
Digital Foundations has received some eclectic and exciting praise. I have included some choice bits below, but my favorite are the numerous peers who have said more or less the same thing: “This is the book we have all been waiting for!”
This book is critically important for the arts. Far too few artists are sophisticated enough to be aware of the stealthily growing problem at hand: Corporate, cookie-cutter tools—and their manuals—that standardize and cramp creativity threaten to become the greatest shapers of late 20th & 21st century art, just as architecture’s greatest influence this past century has unfortunately been neither a renowned school of architecture, nor even a great architect, but the catalog of standardized options: door frames, windows, and other prefab parts, from which 99 percent of structures are now built. Artists will remain stuck with old patterns and limited options, unless we create viable open source alternatives and brilliant interventions like this book!
John S. Johnson
Chairman of the Pacific Foundation
Founder of the Screenwriters Colony, The Filmmakers Collaborative and Eyebeam, Art + Technology centerThis is how I would describe the experience of reading Digital Foundations: I have learned to speak, say Swahili, because I’m hanging out with a lot of Somalians. It takes me a few years maybe, but by now I’m pretty good at it. Then I come across this book, “How to speak Swahili” that goes over all the basics. And I’m like, whoa I’m glad I don’t have to learn Swahili all over again, this shit looks confusing, but this book makes it look so easy! (big sigh of relief) Then I find some vocab I never even knew! That will come in handy…
Xan Young
architect, Aedas LAXan Young, a friend and architect
Rachel Guthrie wrote:
I am using this book as a text for a class I am teaching, but we have moved to CS5–do you have an updated text for students who want that? Have your chapters on the wiki with screenshots been updated? Need to know by end of August, and am keeping my fingers crossed. I really love this book, but MUST use a text that has CS5 referencing for my students.
Posted on 15-Jul-10 at 8:30 am | Permalink
Michael wrote:
Thanks for you interest and your question
Digital Foundations may have CS4 screenshots, but it is version independent. It will not be re-written for CS5. We believe that we should be teaching principles & strategies, not buttons and menu items, and have written the book to work with pretty much every version from CS1 (really as far back as Photoshop 7) onwards. More on this in Digital Foundations: Read Me.
Approach your department chair, and argue that the book is version independent, and that the priority needs to be on principles rather than buttons. It will be better for your students, as well.
Posted on 10-Aug-10 at 9:53 am | Permalink
Michael wrote:
UPDATE
Rachel was successful. She writes:
“My Department chair is allowing me to choose the book, and this is the one I have chosen, so she’ll support me on that–I really love this book, and am excited to use it. Keep me on top of any news and updates, please.”
Posted on 10-Aug-10 at 9:54 am | Permalink
Nina wrote:
So sad to see that the WIKI is not functioning. Is there any chance you will be updating it?
Posted on 17-Oct-12 at 11:47 am | Permalink
M Buschini wrote:
Another note about the WIKI – for this book to function well, students need access to the images to complete exercises. PLEASE HELP – from confused graphic design instructor.
Posted on 22-Oct-12 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
Michael wrote:
The wiki is down. In the meantime, you can find a mirror of the wiki at Archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20100814223905/http://wiki.digital-foundations.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
Posted on 25-Oct-12 at 3:53 pm | Permalink
Nina wrote:
Thanks. I hope it is back soon. The wayback machine has archived many of the error pages. It makes it very difficult to navagate.
Posted on 29-Oct-12 at 11:58 am | Permalink