Über dieses Projekt
20.544 $
STRETCH GOALS
Your support has inspired me to think bigger and do more! So, I've defined the following stretch goals:
- Stretch Goal 1, $15K: Increasing Availability On Other Platforms
- Stretch Goal 2, $20K: Improving Accessibility
- Stretch Goal 3, $30K: A Third Book In This Series
Just 10 days to go. Please spread the word about this project!
UPDATE 2: T-Shirts!
Every Kickstarter project needs a t-shirt… and now this project has one as well! The graphics are inspired by the premise that all CSS animation has some common components: the CSS property (or properties) that you're animating, a duration, and a timing function. If that doesn't make any sense, don't worry — you'll learn all about it when the book comes out :-). Despite already having a vast collection of t-shirts, I think this might be one of my favorite tees ever.
More info about t-shirts is posted below, and under Updates. There's also info about requesting additional t-shirts in the FAQ (it's possible to get more than one t-shirt, and to add a t-shirt to any reward).
Thanks again for your support!
T-shirts are $20 plus $5 for US shipping. Message me for specific international shipping rates.
White, slate (light grey), and eggplant (purple) tees are American Apparel Fine Jersey Short Sleeve T-Shirts, 100% cotton. This shirt has a style for men, and one for women.
The heather-black (dark dark grey) tee is American Apparel Poly-Cotton Short Sleeve Crew Neck, 50% cotton 50% poly. This t-shirt is also available in styles for men and for women.
All rewards at $150 or above will include a t-shirt — the text of a reward can't be edited once it has been selected, but I'll figure something out soon to clarify this!
UPDATE 1: Announcing Stretch Goals!!
Thanks to everyone who helped this project reach its initial funding goal!
Your support has inspired me to think bigger and do more, plus new backers are still discovering this project. So, a few stretch goals:
- Stretch Goal 1, $15K: Increasing Availability On Other Platforms
- Stretch Goal 2, $20K: Improving Accessibility
- Stretch Goal 3, $30K: A Third Book In This Series
Read the full update, which includes more info about these goals, at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1395318901/css-animation-an-interactive-guide/posts
Hello there! I'm Vicki Murley, and I'm creating an ebook that teaches web programming — specifically, one that shows you how to create simple transition animations and more complex keyframe animations using CSS. The goal of my book is to combine beautiful imagery with hands-on interactivity to create something that is less like a conventional ebook, and more like an immersive, responsive learning tool.
In general, I like to create books on technical topics that are beautiful, fun, and engaging, which you can sit down with in a single afternoon and learn something useful.
I gained some experience creating ebooks like the one just described with CSS Transforms: An Interactive Guide, an ebook that I created and published for iBooks on iPad and OS X in October 2013. I'm looking forward to tackling all of the challenges that come with writing about CSS transitions and animations, while utilizing the lessons learned from making my first book, which is pictured below.
In addition to writing this book, I'll be publishing quick, short, useful web development tips to the Sprightly Books mailing list. Join the list and receive a tip every other week or so until CSS Animation: An Interactive Guide is released.
Note that this book will be available in 51 countries through iTunes, just like the book on CSS Transforms. If your country is not listed here, delivery will be delayed until the book is available in a wider range of formats through a wider range of distribution channels.
That's the short version of my story! If you'd like to know more, there are additional details provided in Q&A format below regarding the motiviation for this book, my background and qualifications, rewards, and planned uses for the funding.
Why CSS Animation?
Well, that is a great question! The first reason is that web technologies are my primary area of expertise. As you can also read in my bio (linked on the right), I spent more than 10 years at Apple working on the Safari web browser and as the Safari Technologies Evangelist. I'm very lucky in that many web technologies such as HTML5 video, CSS transforms, and CSS transitions and animations were invented and implemented during my time at Apple. You might say that I had a front row seat to the evolution of these technologies, and as a result I came to know them quite well.
I also like teaching people about web technologies because to me, it feels like they're accessible to everyone and a great entry point into programming in general. This becomes more and more important as new groups of people (such as women and young adults, and even young children) get into programming. Consider this: all you need to make a box appear on screen is a text editor, a web browser, and a few lines of HTML and CSS. There's no compiler and no other tools to download and learn. With web programming languages, you can expend a little bit of effort and see a significant payoff, and that can motivate you to keep going even if you're a complete novice. On the flip side, web technologies can also be very powerful — the more you learn, the more you can accomplish. As JavaScript is introduced into the mix, you're motivated to learn best practices and more advanced programming paradigms, in order to keep your sanity :). Furthermore, concepts that you learn while using JavaScript and the DOM can be applicable to other languages and platforms. But, it all starts with drawing that simple box.
Why an ebook?
Another great question! I like creating ebooks (as opposed to say, publishing information as a sequence of blog entries) for a few reasons. One reason is that a book has a beginning, middle, and end. Even though the reader can skip around if they want to, the author gets to give their recommended plan of action to learn the topic at hand. Personally, my primary mode of finding information on the web consists of searching, then clicking links. While this can be incredibly useful, it sometimes feels like I'm randomly accessing bits and pieces of information, and then trying to piece them all together. An ebook lets me tell the whole story, in one neat package. For example, if you wanted to learn about 2D transforms, you could check out CSS Transforms: An Interactive Guide. Then if you wanted to learn about 3D transforms… hmmm, where to look… surprise! The information is right there in the next chapter of the book you already have, presented in a format that you're already familiar with.
I also like ebooks because it seems like they're ripe for innovation. So many ebooks I see are basically a digital copy of the paper version. Or, they use interactivity simply as eye candy, without being useful to teaching the lesson at hand. One of the best compliments I got on my first book was from a friend who has never created a web page. She paged through the book, tried out all the interactive widgets, and then said "I'm not a web programmer, but I think I get it."
I like the idea that people who use my books will be able to quickly gain a cursory understanding through using interactive elements, then dig into the text for more details.
Can you tell me more about the posters?
I'm actually pretty excited about these, as I'm both a "self-proclaimed web standards nerd" AND an "infographics aficionado". I'll be offering at least two posters to choose from, one of which is previewed in the photo below. If the interest at this reward level is high enough to cover the additional design and printing costs, and I'd love to increase the number of poster choices offered to at least four.
How will the funds be used?
One of the primary strengths of the books I make is great design for the overall layout, graphics, and interactive elements. While making my first book on CSS transforms, I learned that great design takes iteration and time. I'm very lucky to have worked with an excellent designer on my first book, and we're working together again on the CSS Animation book. Even though the Animation book is just getting started, we're already paying attention to the details. A great example is the process we went through for choosing the book's color scheme, including the color of the cover. After eliminating green, teal, purple, and indigo, we decided that "orange" would be a good choice for the lively subject matter of CSS animation, and that it would look interesting on a virtual bookshelf next to the blue cover of the CSS Transforms book. The next step was to choose "the right orange", which resulted in this mockup of various color choices (using the title graphics from the Transforms book, for placement only):
As you can see, we're carefully considering each detail, and this is just one example. Fortunately, the end result of carefully considering every detail is an overall fantastic product, so it's well worth the time and effort.
Funds raised will go towards design and implementation (including design time, font licenses, and photography purchases), Kickstarter fees, poster design and printing, and marketing costs for the book. Funds raised beyond the initial goal could go toward bringing both books to other platforms, such as Kindle (we currently use iBooks Author and are distributing for iBooks on iPad and OS X), or toward to creating a third book in this series on web technologies.
Risiken und Herausforderungen
With any project, there's a chance that too much work has been allocated for too little time. However, the experience of making my first book gave me a good sense of the amount of work involved, which helped me create a fairly accurate and detailed schedule. Even then, I've padded the schedule with a little extra time at the end. I feel pretty confident in the timeline here, and am looking forward to delivering a great product!
Näheres zur Rechenschaftspflicht auf KickstarterFAQs
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Sure!
T-shirts are $20 + $5 shipping in the US, so just add $25 to your pledge for each additional t-shirt requested. Also, please shoot me a message just for good measure. T-shirt quantities will be collected via a survey (which will also collect style, color, and size choices) when the Kickstarter campaign ends.
For international shipping, add $10 to the shipping cost.
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Sure!
T-shirts are $20 + $5 shipping in the US, so just add $25 to your pledge for each t-shirt requested. Also, please shoot me a message just for good measure. T-shirt quantities will be collected via a survey (which will also collect style, color, and size choices) when the Kickstarter campaign ends.
For international shipping, add $10 to the shipping cost.
Just in case you missed the text above, rewards at $150 or above will include a t-shirt. The text of a reward can't be edited once it has been selected, but I'll figure something out soon to clarify this!
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This book will be available in every country that I'm currently able to publish it in! That includes the United States, plus 50 other countries. From the paragraphs above:
"Note that this book will be available in 51 countries through iTunes, just like the book on CSS Transforms. If your country is not listed at http://csstransforms.com/availability.html, delivery will be delayed until the book is available in a wider range of formats through a wider range of distribution channels."
I'd really hate for anyone to be disappointed when the book is released, so please take this into consideration when deciding whether to back this project!
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Once a reward on Kickstarter has a backer, the description of the reward cannot be changed (only the quantity can be changed). That's why things have gotten a little confusing. Let me attempt to clarify:
- Every backer at $5 or more gets a vote in the survey on possible topics for a third book (and of course infinite gratitude).
- In general if you see "all of the above", refer to the list of items that directly follows this text in parentheses, rather than the lists of items in other rewards. For example, the reward that uses the following text does not include a t-shirt (nor does it include a new car):
"You'll get all of the above (infinite gratitude, plus a vote in our poll, plus copies of both ebooks, plus a thank you in the Animation book)…"
Apologies on this! It's my first Kickstarter - live and learn! :-)
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Yes! The release party invite is extended to the backer, +1.
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Finanzierungszeitraum
- (30 Tage)