Flash Books [Generative Design]

Top: Flash Math Creativity, Bottom: Fresh Flash: New Design Ideas with Flash MX

Between 2002 and 2005 I wrote chapters for a series of Flash books, published by Friends of Ed, exploring creative programming and generative design with Actionscript.

The first and probably the most well known of these books these was Flash Math Creativity [2002], a book of design experiment iterations. Fifteen artists made four code experiments and then mutated each experiment 10 times annotating the code, and explaining how minute changes to the code creates a wide range of differing effects.

Fresh Flash: New Design Ideas with Flash MX [2002] explored the new syntax and structure that appeared in Flash MX. My chapter , Experimental Interfaces, involved the production of a set of experimental GUI’s generated at runtime using the Drawing API and the new event model.

These experiments were developed further in Flash Interface & Application Design [2003]. Trig functions were used to plot elements of a multi-dimensional array generating spiral and DNA shaped data visualisations.

My contribution to MX Components: Most Wanted [2004] was a chapter entitled ‘Pattern generators, mouse toys & dynamic geometrical designs’ discussed three simple post-functional components for amusement and distraction.

Photographic documentation of the books can be found HERE