Dust or Magic, Creative Work in the Digital Age

A book for the interface workers. Dust or Magic was primarily written for the young, talented people whose creative instincts are kindled by computers and live to create ‘good stuff’, but who are systematically betrayed by the managerial types in suits who hire them, set them absurd tasks, and sack them when their half-baked schemes go belly-up. It is also for people who simply want to know how human creativity fares in the digital age. Originally published by Addison-Wesley (under the title ‘Dust or Magic, Secrets of successful multimedia design’) this book is, in part, a ‘secret history’ of computers: a history told from the vantage point of the people who did the work. We have insiders’ accounts of a range of influential products and projects, many of which were in danger of being forgotten. The scene is illuminated by recent insights into creativity and well-being from the fields of psychology and neuroscience, as well as tried-and-tested, practical strategies for workplace survival from other industries.
The author, Bob Hughes, has been a ‘creative’ for most of his working life: first a calligrapher, then an advertising artist and copywriter before discovering computers in the mid-1980s. He now teaches at Oxford Brookes University on the MA in Interactive Media Publishing, and researches and writes about the wider impact of electronics and computers in workplaces world-wide. He also campaigns on behalf of migrants, refugees and all precarious workers. “What you are doing is stripping away the corporate bullshit from this ‘revolution’ – its ours not theirs. Reclaim the pixels!” – Chris McEvoy (Creator of ‘Usability Must Die’ www.usabilitymustdie.com). “There are many books explaining why software projects go sour; this one breaks the mold by showing how they come good.” – Malcolm Cook (Senior Lecturer in Human Factors, University of Abertay) “It was incredibly engrossing. I expected to skim through it, and found myself reading it avidly, putting aside all the other work I should have been doing…It rang so true about so many things about the process of creating the virtual world we spend so much time in that I’m dying to share it with others who also create for it, or want to.“
- Aleen Stein (co-founder of the Voyager Company and CEO of Organa inc. www.organa.com). More information on www.idhub.com/magic