Flash to the Core

by Joshua Davis

Coverage is not critically tied to a particular rev of Flash. Flash to the An Interactive Sketchbook is about the creative process and what someone like Joshua Davis can teach the world about taking Flash design and development to new extremes. Part one is all about Joshua Davis, the his philosophies, his approach to Flash workflow, how he works with clients, how he explains and explores the world around him through his creative approach to Flash web design, animation and motion graphics. Part two is about the work 12 Flash-based projects Joshua has created in the past year. Some of these have won awards, others have been nominated for awards. Each project is a narrative and deconstruction, with the code used in the project included and explained.

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the most influential books ever in my career as a software developer. I started out as a designer with an art background but was always interested in programming. This book was just the kind of kick I needed to become really interested in learning Flash back in the day.

Flash's prime has come and gone and it is clearly on the way out now since it does not have mobile support, but I spent a lot of my career working with it and it is in no small part thanks to this great book. As a disclaimer, technology changes fast and this book is pretty much an outdated relic now, and not something I would recommend for anyone currently looking to learn Flash, but back when it was new it was a very motivational resource for me.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for starting out with Flash. Davis really knows what he's doing and is able to explain concepts well. My one quibble is that at times his actionscript instructions had minor errors, which, for a first-time actionscripter, can really make you scratch your head. I would imagine that this is not Davis's problem so much as a the publisher/editor's, but it's gotta be accurate. I noticed that the tutorial files that one can download online were acurate, and as such, did not have the minor errors in the book.

[Matt McClard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joshua Davis is easily my all time favorite designer/artist. This book was amazing. It was written in a simple and easy language that helped me approach Flash in a new way. I still use the things I learned in this book, now almost 6 years later. I hope that he puts out some more books, but he is busy making awesome machines.

JoshuaDavis.com