"This ambitious book teaches visual thinking and software skills together. The text leads readers step-by-step through the process of creating dynamic images using a range of powerful applications. The engaging, experimental exercises take this project well beyond the typical software guide." Ellen Lupton, co-author of Graphic Design: The New Basics   "This groundbreaking text applies the classical Modernist pedagogy of the Bauhaus to digital media. It's a must-have for every art student, design student, and new media maven." Mark Tribe, Brown University, Founder of Rhizome.org "This book is the perfect fusion of technical and formal instruction. It gives the lie to those who think you can learn to use the Adobe Suite of computer applications effectively without  an art education, and opens the door to a more practical understanding of the importance of artistic practice in our culture.

" Lee Montgomery, Founder of Neighborhood Public Radio / New Media Educator "This book is an unprecedented bridge between how visual design was once taught and how it needs to be taught today.  It decodes digital tools and culture while explaining fundamental visual design principles within a historical context." Casey Reas, Co-Founder of Processing.org "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 center.