Prototyping Interfaces – Interactive Sketching with vvvv

Today we’re really excited to announce the public release of “Prototyping Interfaces – Interactive Sketching with vvvv”, a brand new book on creative prototyping published by the renowned German Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz. It is also the very first publication covering the basics of vvvv, the hybrid graphical and textual programming environment.

The five authors of the book are Jan Barth, Jochen Leinberger, the Intuity fellows Mark Lukas, Markus Schilling and myself, what makes “Prototyping interfaces” the second book with authors from the Intuity family after the rave success of “Generative Design” – by Hartmut Bohnacker, Benedikt Groß, Julia Laub and Claudius Lazzeroni, also published by Verlag Hermann Schidt Mainz.

A book for future creative technologists

Let me tell you a little bit about our ideas behind the book:

“Prototyping Interfaces” is a book for future “creative technologists”, a collection of technological ideas put into action. As Interaction Designers we work somewhere between the development, concept and design of our everyday technological world. While we enjoy shaping the present, we also work toward shaping our future. In doing so we benefit from a tool called “Prototyping.” It allows us to make our ideas tangible and comprehensible.

We often spend our time on thinking about an application or talking about an interface. But what we should actually spend our time on is building. Therefore the answer to a question like ”How is it supposed to work” shouldn’t be “I can’t tell you” or “I cannot imagine.” It should be “I’ll show you how!”

We as designers shouldn’t be afraid of technology or of how to use it. We should be aware of its capabilities, its strengths, and its weaknesses. Simply put – just use it and inspire clients and colleagues.

From makers for makers

With the book, readers learn how to use vvvv, get to know how to use it with an Arduino Board, discover how to set up tracking environments, figure out how to control actuators, and even use different display technologies. The single tutorials and examples are explained step by step, along with ready-to-go patches and codes available for free on the Prototyping Interfaces website. First success will not be long in coming!

“Prototyping Interfaces” gives insights into the work of successful companies, art projects and the work of designers that influence our understanding of technology and its capabilities.

There’s even more: The book also wants to open up a new world for the readers. In and after each tutorial it shows different ways technology can be applied to create something new. As authors, we wrote the book to give you new ideas – think out of the box. We want you to combine everything you know and learned so far and then come up with something totally different. We want you to explore!

The book “Prototyping Interfaces” is not written by scientists or programmers. From designers for designers – from makers for makers!

You can order the book directly from our publisher Verlag Hermann Schmidt Mainz. (Only german version available)