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===Abstract===
===Introduction : Circular structure of web design market (A starting point + Main research question + sub questions)===
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This thesis will be a journey of my desk and field research, investigating how mechanisms of web design industry influences to the diversity of websites today. As a designer and user of the Internet space, I’ve been feeling sorry about that many webpages are becoming aesthetically and systemically identical each other. Hearing brutal (and realistic) opinions like “Because it should be easy, quick, and”˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜˜
My enjoyment of making hand-crafted web pages has been navigating my career to web design practice. But then I, as someone who wants to work in the commercial industry for a realistic reason, admit that most of my future tasks will be framed by commercial agenda, not being able to play with quirky elements and styles I like.<br>By observing current mainstream websites, I've come to a realisation that my love about the playful websites will be likely to conflict with the market demand. <br>
certain disciplines in web design industry influences ,, dependency, creativity of designers and developers....</p><br>
It's quite agreeable that most major web pages have certain types of features in common. For example, the shapes of most icons and the locations of the menu bars seem quite similar each other, as well as the user navigation system.<br>I am not saying that these implicit rules are all absurd, so there needs a total subversion/revolution on the web design context. But still, this repetition of the sameness is worthwhile to be questioned, even for figuring out in which stance I will stand as a web designer in the industry.<br>
In order to do so, I'd like to explore the circular structure of the web design market, missions many designers confront, and how I will be navigating my stance in the reality. This goal will be explored through sub-questions mentioned below:<br>


===Introduction : A starting point how I was convinced to talk about the topic===
<li> What are conventional rules/mechanisms that the web designers and developers work with in the industry? (e.g. Mobile-first approach, Frameworks, Flat-aesthetic, and so on?)</li>
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<li> In which sense are these indispensable in the field? (Efficiency?)</li>
While developing my artistic trajectory, I’ve been in love with the format of web page, which has motivated me to keep publishing my small stories through hand-crafted web medium. The process of coding by (clumsy) hands has been incredibly enjoyable, but I’ve been also admitting that the completion of them doesn’t lie on professional level, in both the use of aesthetics and tools.<br>
<li> How do the agenda/mechanisms influence the creativity of designers and developers?</li>
I am motivated, however, to work as a commercial designer in the upcoming future and this has made me hold a mission how I can develop my sense and skills to the professional standards in the market. Since then, I’ve kept my eyes sharp on many commercial websites, observing their layouts, design choices of colour and typography and user navigating system. And it’s turned out a lot of commercial agencies and online stores, even web essay and knowledge sharing communities have similar aesthetics and functions. Of course all the identical websites make my life convenient, not making to switch my brain mode all the time among the numerous channels. However I can’t stop feeling a bit desensitised in such sameness and questioning how I will be able to deal with this convention in upcoming future, balancing my autonomy and the office task.<br>  
<li> What can frameworks made by non-professionals speak to the web design industry?</li><br>


Meanwhile, I came across an essay “<i>Why do all the websites look the same?</i>”, written by Boris Müller (designer and professor in Applied Science ) (link: https://modus.medium.com/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73). In the essay he basically points that pervasive tendencies and disciplines in web design has been repetitive, which triggers the crisis of creative ecology of the web industry. The writings gained a lot of positive feedback by other professional and junior designers, and I also realised that my bluntness in the current web context is already what others are feeling too. But then I’m curious how I can explore the (same) question (with him) by my own as someone who is still being naive and unexperienced unlike him.
(The writer has abundant academic and commercial experiences in the field..)<br>
The thesis will be a documentation of my exploration for the research questions .</p>
<br>


Thus, this thesis will be a documentation of my exploration the circular structure of the web design market and, reality and missions many designers confront. Which will eventually empower myself to balance ably navigate my future career.</p>
===1. Uniformity (Conformity): Does it exist? A few cases and reviews===




<li>Showcasing website examples that I've been collecting + findings + analysis (about the uniformity I've observed) </li>
<li>My experiment to analyse their layouts (, which will be mostly shown with images that I make)</li>
<li>Contemporary standards of commercial websites (aesthetics, functions)<br>
- Desk research about Template market + CMS + Material Design(Webdesign guideline by Google)<br>
- Field research, asking designers and developers questions below:<br>
&nbsp;--> If there are any conventional disciplines that they stick to when making a webpage, what they are?<br>
&nbsp;--> Why are these rules/conditions important when working?<br>
&nbsp;--> How do you experience/perceive the web design industry that you're involved in now?</li>
<li>The (dis)connection between 'Content'-'Form'. It could be better than now.<br>
&nbsp;--> About this, I'll run an online workshop 'Fixed structure & Free content'. I would like to see how standardised layouts in html could conflict with participants'contents, using a few Bootstrap templates.</li>
<li>What is 'designing' a web?</li>




===1. What is considered the ‘professional(ly built) website’?===
<br>
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<li>??Showcasing some personal or amateuritic web works (including mine). In which way  Aesthetic and Tools</li>
<li>What are conditions of well-made website? = Contemporary standards of commercial websites (aesthetics, functions) (Ask to designers and developers) </li>
<li> A gap of mechanism between amatueristic personal webpage and professional ones. (in terms of referencing frameworks, procedure of making design elements…) In which ways are they similar and different?</li>
</p>


===2. Potential causes of the uniformity===
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===2. Investigation about the mobile first agenda===
<li>Templates + frameworks (CMS, front-end code libraries)<br>
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>
- The histories of them & In which circumstances are they often used?</li>
<li>The history of responsive design</li>
<li>What are realistic working conditions of the designers/developers in the industry?<br>
<li>Co-relation between The Flat design (movement) and the responsive design agenda (Positive and Negative examples)</li>
- Given amount of working time & wage<br>
<li>??How can artistic attitudes such as Brutalism be applied/experimented to the mobile first agenda? Any case studies?</li>
- Task division<br>
<li>How has this motto been influence to the ecology of the general web design industry? (Balancing creativity and efficiency) </li>  
- prevailed design motto: reponsive/mobile-first and flat design<br>
<li>Adaptive design? Vs Responsive design? What are examples of webpages made by the adaptive design agenda?</li></p>
- Standardised types of tools</li>
<li>Co-relation between the Flat design and the responsive design approach</li>
<li>UI/UX and many other design research by mega labs/companies are becoming a bible for web designers.</li>
<li>Ask to designers & developers: What do you think of the potential causes?</li>
<br>


===3. Will re/de-forming the uniformity be necessarily conflicting with the demand of the commercial industry? My stance as a web designer?===
<li>The relation between the uniformity agenda and creativities of designers and developers(through interview)</li>
<li>In which way and how often do designers and developers depend on the frameworks?</li>

<li>Workshops with experts:<br>
- “Unlearn/Detox your disciplines in design/coding” (How would u design and build a website as you want, being out of the current disciplines?)</li>
<li>Workshops with both experts and junior graphic designers & students:<br>
- "Experiments to make our own frameworks for basic html graphic elements such as icons and profile pictures!" (made by non-professional!) Can we make it? What is the meaning of it?</li>
<li>Ask net-artists:<br>
&nbsp;--> How do you feel about most (commercial) web pages today?<br>
&nbsp;--> Through which practical steps have they made their web projects? (design identity, front-end development)?<br>
&nbsp;--> What are basic/conventional rules that you stick to while making the works? And why?
&nbsp;--> If you experience commercial (commissioned) projects. Ask them how they managed to balance their own sense and the market demand?
</li>
<li>(??)Experiments to make our own frameworks (made by non-professional!) Can we make it? What is the meaning of it? (Participatory workshops)</li>
<br>




===3. Tools : How do developers (+designers) embody the given web design?===  
===Conclusion===
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<li>The history of open source for Css andJavascript libraries, mostly developed by mega tech companies</li>

Recap the research (Circular structure of the web design industry)
<li>In which way and how often designers and developers depend on the frameworks? (How are the scale of companies they work? The mission?)</li>
<li>Are you the one who doesn’t necessarily rely on the framework all the time? How have you studied till reaching the pure capacity of coding? And how does this influence to your work?</li>
<li>??Experiment : Me trying both pure coding and extracting code from the frameworks, aiming for one design sketch. How do I feel, experiencing both? Compare the two different mechanisms? </li>
</p>
</p>


 
===References / Bibliography===


===4. Conclusion===
<li>Carpenter, J. R. (Mar 2015), A Handmade Web, Bath Spa University, UK, Slow Media (http://luckysoap.com/statements/handmadeweb.html)</li>
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>
<li>Galloway, Alexander R. (2012), The Interface Effect, Cambridge, UK, Polity</li>
Reproduced economy (Ecology of the market)<br>
<li>Johnson, S. (1997), User Experience: Interface Culture, New York, Basic Books</li>
So how all the research can help me?<br>
<li>Kay, A. and Goldberg, A. (1977), Personal Dynamic Media, MIT, The New Media Reader</li>  
The importance of not losing the passion about the existing of diverse personal web sites.
<li>Lialina, O. (2009), Digital Folklore, Frankfurt, DE, Merz&Solitude</li>
</p>
<li>Lialina, O. (2020), From Me to My, Berlin, DE, Critical Interface (https://interfacecritique.net/book/olia-lialina-from-my-to-me/)</li>
<li>Lurroso, S. (Apr 2020), The User Condition 04: A Mobile First World, Entreprecariat (https://networkcultures.org/entreprecariat/mobile-first-world/)</li>
<li>Lurroso, S. (Feb, 2021), The User Condition, the Lectorate Design of KABK (https://theusercondition.computer/)</li>
<li>Müller, B. (Sep, 2018a), Why Do All Websites Look the Same?, Modus (https://modus.medium.com/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73)</li>
<li>Müller, B. (Nov, 2018b), Balancing Creativity and Usability, Medium (https://borism.medium.com/balancing-creativity-and-usability-9bb2cd0fe929)</li>

Latest revision as of 12:52, 7 December 2021

Introduction : Circular structure of web design market (A starting point + Main research question + sub questions)

My enjoyment of making hand-crafted web pages has been navigating my career to web design practice. But then I, as someone who wants to work in the commercial industry for a realistic reason, admit that most of my future tasks will be framed by commercial agenda, not being able to play with quirky elements and styles I like.
By observing current mainstream websites, I've come to a realisation that my love about the playful websites will be likely to conflict with the market demand.
It's quite agreeable that most major web pages have certain types of features in common. For example, the shapes of most icons and the locations of the menu bars seem quite similar each other, as well as the user navigation system.
I am not saying that these implicit rules are all absurd, so there needs a total subversion/revolution on the web design context. But still, this repetition of the sameness is worthwhile to be questioned, even for figuring out in which stance I will stand as a web designer in the industry.
In order to do so, I'd like to explore the circular structure of the web design market, missions many designers confront, and how I will be navigating my stance in the reality. This goal will be explored through sub-questions mentioned below:

  • What are conventional rules/mechanisms that the web designers and developers work with in the industry? (e.g. Mobile-first approach, Frameworks, Flat-aesthetic, and so on?)
  • In which sense are these indispensable in the field? (Efficiency?)
  • How do the agenda/mechanisms influence the creativity of designers and developers?
  • What can frameworks made by non-professionals speak to the web design industry?


    • The thesis will be a documentation of my exploration for the research questions .


    1. Uniformity (Conformity): Does it exist? A few cases and reviews

  • Showcasing website examples that I've been collecting + findings + analysis (about the uniformity I've observed)
  • My experiment to analyse their layouts (, which will be mostly shown with images that I make)
  • Contemporary standards of commercial websites (aesthetics, functions)
    - Desk research about Template market + CMS + Material Design(Webdesign guideline by Google)
    - Field research, asking designers and developers questions below:
     --> If there are any conventional disciplines that they stick to when making a webpage, what they are?
     --> Why are these rules/conditions important when working?
     --> How do you experience/perceive the web design industry that you're involved in now?
  • The (dis)connection between 'Content'-'Form'. It could be better than now.
     --> About this, I'll run an online workshop 'Fixed structure & Free content'. I would like to see how standardised layouts in html could conflict with participants'contents, using a few Bootstrap templates.
  • What is 'designing' a web?


    • 2. Potential causes of the uniformity

  • Templates + frameworks (CMS, front-end code libraries)
    - The histories of them & In which circumstances are they often used?
  • What are realistic working conditions of the designers/developers in the industry?
    - Given amount of working time & wage
    - Task division
    - prevailed design motto: reponsive/mobile-first and flat design
    - Standardised types of tools
  • Co-relation between the Flat design and the responsive design approach
  • UI/UX and many other design research by mega labs/companies are becoming a bible for web designers.
  • Ask to designers & developers: What do you think of the potential causes?


    • 3. Will re/de-forming the uniformity be necessarily conflicting with the demand of the commercial industry? My stance as a web designer?

  • The relation between the uniformity agenda and creativities of designers and developers(through interview)
  • In which way and how often do designers and developers depend on the frameworks?

    • 


  • Workshops with experts:
    - “Unlearn/Detox your disciplines in design/coding” (How would u design and build a website as you want, being out of the current disciplines?)
  • Workshops with both experts and junior graphic designers & students:
    - "Experiments to make our own frameworks for basic html graphic elements such as icons and profile pictures!" (made by non-professional!) Can we make it? What is the meaning of it?
  • Ask net-artists:
     --> How do you feel about most (commercial) web pages today?
     --> Through which practical steps have they made their web projects? (design identity, front-end development)?
     --> What are basic/conventional rules that you stick to while making the works? And why?  --> If you experience commercial (commissioned) projects. Ask them how they managed to balance their own sense and the market demand?
  • (??)Experiments to make our own frameworks (made by non-professional!) Can we make it? What is the meaning of it? (Participatory workshops)


    • Conclusion

    Recap the research (Circular structure of the web design industry)

    References / Bibliography

  • Carpenter, J. R. (Mar 2015), A Handmade Web, Bath Spa University, UK, Slow Media (http://luckysoap.com/statements/handmadeweb.html)
  • Galloway, Alexander R. (2012), The Interface Effect, Cambridge, UK, Polity
  • Johnson, S. (1997), User Experience: Interface Culture, New York, Basic Books
  • Kay, A. and Goldberg, A. (1977), Personal Dynamic Media, MIT, The New Media Reader
  • Lialina, O. (2009), Digital Folklore, Frankfurt, DE, Merz&Solitude
  • Lialina, O. (2020), From Me to My, Berlin, DE, Critical Interface (https://interfacecritique.net/book/olia-lialina-from-my-to-me/)
  • Lurroso, S. (Apr 2020), The User Condition 04: A Mobile First World, Entreprecariat (https://networkcultures.org/entreprecariat/mobile-first-world/)
  • Lurroso, S. (Feb, 2021), The User Condition, the Lectorate Design of KABK (https://theusercondition.computer/)
  • Müller, B. (Sep, 2018a), Why Do All Websites Look the Same?, Modus (https://modus.medium.com/on-the-visual-weariness-of-the-web-8af1c969ce73)
  • Müller, B. (Nov, 2018b), Balancing Creativity and Usability, Medium (https://borism.medium.com/balancing-creativity-and-usability-9bb2cd0fe929)
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