Last weekend I attended a workshop entitled “Human Interface Design”, held by Thomas Exner. We didn’t exactly design any interfaces, but rather lamps, focussed on LED and similar illuminants. You can take a look at the results here and here.
While the others were busy tinkering on their partly quite complex designs, I created 4 lamps with a quick, dirty and rather conceptual approach:
“Bright Ideas”
After sketching and instantly discarding some ideas I had in the beginning, a pile of paper arose, which I illuminated with some cheap fairy lights.
“Out Of The Box”
Desperately searching for a more simple solution, I wished for an out of the box solution for creative lamp design, and found one.
“A4″ and “A3″
Being not quite satisfied with the usabilty of the lamps I did before, I came up with this series of reading and work lights.
Reflecting about my and everyone else’s current practice in the construction of websites and the use of RSS.
Until now I have only seen websites that offer hierarchical, chronologically sorted content, also offer an RSS feed to integrate the information into other pages or for subscription with a personal RSS feed reader.
But the same technology that, for example, helps me to easily keep track of updates to my favorite weblogs would also allow me to construct a website that is as non hierarchical as a website can get, while still being perfectly accessible to anyone that is not interested in the presentation framework or visual representation of the content, but only the information itself.
The implementation comes to perfection when using Apples Safari browser. If the user finds my presentation too distracting, he could simply click on the shiny blue RSS button within the URI bar to see the hierarchical representation of my website within the same application.
I am not sure if this idea has either been overlooked by website designers until now or if I just never stumbled upon such a site. In the past, declared authors of net.art or rabid commercial designers have produced many examples of eccentric websites that left the alleged safe path to effectual mediation. Today, the most widely accepted practice to publish content on the web is setting up a weblog, customizing the look and feel as far as the application allows it and start publishing immediately, just like I did numerous times, including on this very page you are reading.
Today, I think that time and technology are ready to mash up these two methods. Putting a little more reflective and constructive effort into the architecture of a site, one could produce a website with a real signature. I at least would welcome seeing less sites with the same “sort by date posted” kind of layout, and more individual presentations, free from backend-bound indifference.