The book remains our primary way of delivering information. Its form has not changed for centuries, and its internal organization-table of contents, chapter, glossaries, and so forth-is so commonplace that we take it for granted. But now a challenger has appeared: the computer. No longer merely a tool for preparing art for the printer, the computer is an information medium in itself.

Computer-based design delivers information according to the user's particular interest. Information is restructured into webs that allow entry from different points, a system that may be more like our actual thinking processes than the near order of the book is. On the computer, the designer can use time and sound in addition to text and image to draw attention, to animate an explanation, or to present an alternative way to understand a concept. This new technology demands designers who can combine analysis with intuition. Clement Mok does just that. He is a certified Apple software developer (he can program) and a graphic designer comfortable in most media. QuickTime system software, recently released by Apple, supports the capability to do digital movies on the Macintosh. As system software, it is really invisible. “Providing users with this great technology isn't enough,” says Mok. “You also have to give them ideas for what they can do and samples they can use.”

Mok addressed this problem by developing QuickClips, a CD library of three hundred film clips ranging from excerpts of classic films to original videos and animations created by his staff. These fifteen- to ninety-second movies can be incorporated into user-created presentations. It is like having a small video store in your computer. With QuickClips, Mok opened new avenues for presentation with the computer.