Nami-thesis outline

Abstract



 This thesis will be a journey of my desk and field research, investigating how the current mechanisms of the web design industry influence the diversity of websites today. As a user (and designer) of the Internet space, I’ve been observing some transformations in the web culture both aesthetically and systemically. The thing is, I've been finding the changes a little regrettable. Before diving into this project, I had just thought perhaps it's just my nostalgia about my youth memories on the web. But soon I realised that I was not so fond of certain patterns and rules being highly repetitive, not only having the nostalgic emotion. As a person who is orienting to work as a designer in the commercial field, I've been holding a desire to investigate the histories of web context and what kinds of agenda have been placed in reality.
This thesis is an exploration of my curiosity about the web industry and directions that I could embrace for my future.

Introduction : A starting point how I was convinced to talk about the topic

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 a professional level, in both the use of aesthetics and tools.
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 systems. 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 the upcoming future, balancing my autonomy and the office task.

Meanwhile, I came across an essay “Why do all the websites look the same?”, written by Boris Müller (designer and professor in Applied Science ).
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..)

Thus, this thesis will be a documentation of my exploration of the circular structure of the web design market and, reality and missions many designers confront. Which will eventually empower me to balance ably navigate my future career.

1. What is considered the ‘professional(ly built) website’?

??Showcasing some personal or amateuritic web works (including mine). In which way Aesthetic and Tools

What are conditions of well-made website? = Contemporary standards of commercial websites (aesthetics, functions) (Ask to designers and developers)

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?

2. Investigation about the 'mobile-first' agenda

The history of responsive design

Co-relation between The Flat design (movement) and the responsive design agenda (Positive and Negative examples)

??How can artistic attitudes such as Brutalism be applied/experimented to the mobile first agenda? Any case studies?

How has this motto been influence to the ecology of the general web design industry? (Balancing creativity and efficiency)

Adaptive design? Vs Responsive design? What are examples of webpages made by the adaptive design agenda?

3. Tools: How do developers (+designers) embody the given web design?

The history of open source for Css and Javascript libraries, mostly developed by mega tech companies




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?)




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?

??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?

4. Conclusion

Reproduced economy (Ecology of the market)
So how all the research can help me?
The importance of not losing the passion about the existing of diverse personal web sites.