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===Introduction : Circular structure of web design market (A starting point(simply) + Main research question + sub questions)===
===Introduction : Circular structure of web design market (A starting point + Main research question + sub questions)===
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvetica;”>
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvetica;”>
My enjoyment in making web pages has been navigating my career in web design practice. But I do admit that most of my future tasks will be occupied by commercial agenda, not merely being able to play with all the hand-crafted webp elements, which I love.<br>This speculation has made me observe current mainstream websites with sharp eyes, and I've come to a realisation that my desire in making quirky and fun websites will conflict with the market structure in many ways. <br>
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>
Meaning, it's pretty obvious that most major web pages have certain types of features in common. For example, the shapes of most icons and the locations of banners, menu bar seem quite similar each other, as well as the user navigation system.<br>I am not completely denying the implicit rules, claiming that 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 my attitude as a web designer.<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>  
Thus I'd like to explore why do most websites look identical today, where it has come from, and how I will be balancing my stance as a web designer.<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>
Sub-questions are below:<br>


<li> If there are pervasive agendas/mechanisms in the web design industry, what are they? (e.g. Mobile-first approach, Frameworks, Flat-aesthetic, and so on?)</li>
<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>
<li> In which sense are these indispensable in the industry?</li>
<li> In which sense are these indispensable in the field? (Efficiency?)</li>
<li> How do the agenda/mechanisms influence the creativity of designers and developers?</li>
<li> How do the agenda/mechanisms influence the creativity of designers and developers?</li>
<li> What can frameworks made by non-professionals speak to the web design industry?</li><br>
<li> What can frameworks made by non-professionals speak to the web design industry?</li><br>


Thus, this thesis will be a documentation of my journey in the circular structure of the web design market, and missions many designers confront.</p>
The thesis will be a documentation of my exploration for the research questions .</p>
<br>
<br>


===1. Uniformity : Does it exist? A few cases and reviews===
===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>


<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 style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”> 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>
<li>The relation between the uniformity agenda and creativities of designers and developers(through interviewing)</li>
<br>
<br>


===2. Potential causes of the uniformity (reading + interviewing)===
===2. Potential causes of the uniformity===
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvetica;”>


<li>The history of responsive design approach (mobile-first)</li>
<li>Templates + frameworks (CMS, front-end code libraries)<br>
<li>Co-relation between The Flat design (movement) and the responsive design agenda (Positive and Negative examples)</li>
- The histories of them & In which circumstances are they often used?</li>
<li>Realistic working conditions in the web design industry (time, wage, ways of working, etc) (through interviewing)</li>
<li>What are realistic working conditions of the designers/developers in the industry?<br>
<li>Pervasive tools of the web development (through interviewing)</li>
- Given amount of working time & wage<br>
<li>Any differences in the work process between net artists and the commercial designers? In which ways are they similar and different?</li>
- Task division<br>
- prevailed design motto: reponsive/mobile-first and flat design<br>
- 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. Tools: How do developers (+designers) embody the given web design?===
===3. Will re/de-forming the uniformity be necessarily conflicting with the demand of the commercial industry? My stance as a web designer?===
<p>
<li style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>The history of open source for Css and Javascript libraries, mostly developed by mega tech companies</li>
<li>The relation between the uniformity agenda and creativities of designers and developers(through interview)</li>
<li style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>In which way and how often do designers and developers depend on the frameworks? (How are the scale of companies they work for? The mission?)</li>
<li>In which way and how often do designers and developers depend on the frameworks?</li>

<li style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>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 your work?</li>
<li>Workshops with experts:<br>
<li style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>??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>
- “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>
</p><br>
<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>


===4. Conclusion===
===Conclusion===
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvatica;”>
<p style = “width: 75%; font-family:Helvetica;”>
Reproduced economy (Ecology of the market)<br>
Recap the research (Circular structure of the web design industry)
So how all the research can help me?<br>
The importance of not losing the passion about the existing of  diverse personal web sites.
</p>
</p>
===References / Bibliography===
<li>Carpenter, J. R. (Mar 2015), A Handmade Web, Bath Spa University, UK, Slow Media (http://luckysoap.com/statements/handmadeweb.html)</li>
<li>Galloway, Alexander R. (2012), The Interface Effect, Cambridge, UK, Polity</li>
<li>Johnson, S. (1997), User Experience: Interface Culture, New York, Basic Books</li>
<li>Kay, A. and Goldberg, A. (1977), Personal Dynamic Media, MIT, The New Media Reader</li>
<li>Lialina, O. (2009), Digital Folklore, Frankfurt, DE, Merz&Solitude</li>
<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)