Notes from the Field: Cluster of Design Philosophies and Miscellaneous Thoughts from osullivanjam.es webpage - New York, December-August 2024, Second Revision

Overcoming Modern Web Design

With modern web design, there is an undeniable emphasis on making a frontend design that is both functional and modern. Oh how much comfort there is in being able to pick up a user interface quickly! And isn't it obvious why this would be desired? How imperitive it is that these visitors (or rather customers) can find the shopping cart with ease! How important it is- that we design websites which can maximize the amount of value we extract from our visitors. And how lucky are these utilitarian designers! For we have no shortage of ways to design a sleek and modern looking UI: bootstrap, etc. We have deduced web design down to a science at this point, you don't even have to touch CSS anymore if you don't want to! Just spin up some prebuilt components and you can be all done, another vapid website shat out from the ass of mediocrity. These new websites continuously exist in the shadow of the last, it is a neverending cacophony of conformity which deviates just enough to keep consumers subdued and tuned-in.

The Tyranny of Frameworks

Now you might say, "bu-but frameworks and libraries and standards speed up webdesign" and yes they do! Now instead of creating an original website slowly we can vomit up some slop quickly. Hah, it is truly wonderful for meeting your jira deadlines or spinning up some side-hustle shit with stripe payments automatically built in; but what is the true cost of this? I say we have sterilized the web, castrated it: to the point where nearly every site is a soulless carbon copy of the last- a dead internet full of utterly generic slick corporate shit. It was only a matter of time, a natural consequence of the putrid talons of capitalism sinking themselves into all that is good and beautiful. And where is this beauty now? Has it gone away with our free expression? Most websites are about making money, profit: the web design itself is merely a means to an end (the end being extracting value from visitors of course). How foolish I feel trying to critique some of these sites, and do not be mistaken I am the fool! Tell me, does the person running the dropshipping site really give a shit what it looks like? No, it is a means to an end, the end in this case being the extraction of value to further the accumulation of capital.

A Return to Form

But my dear programmers, my comrades in keyboards; i must ask, where has our passion gone? Has the bourgeois conception of functionality really overtaken our endless creativity? We strive to make our sites easier to use, more human, but in the process they actually become less human! How could a site be human if no human gives a shit about it? How can it be human if it is designed only out of necessity; a design created by no one and for no one?? No, we cannot stand for this, we musn't stand for this! The web of self-expression is long gone I admit it, but in the darkest night should the stars also go out? We will shine bright my friends.

Design Approach and Implementation

I will not follow material design or use a framework; how about I lobotomize myself instead! No, I can't do it, I won't do it! You want me to make another slop forgettable flat personal website? Don't make me laugh! I shall create a website that is anti-human! Why would I engage in self-censorship on something that is supposed to be self expression? It is MY site and I will make sure that it looks like it. I will create a website that is ugly, confusing, clunky, and outdated- and these imperfections will make it beautiful.

Current Development Stack

There are probably flaws in my code, I am learning many things as I go and fixing my past mistakes when I see it fit to do so. Regardless, I hope that my skills will be reflected in the website. Currently, my development stack is pretty simple and consists of: PHP, SASS, HTMX, Apache2, and Ubuntu. But this stack is subject to change whenever I find more interesting/fun things to use.

Conclusions and Actions

Media designed for everyone will end up being for no one. I am not designing for everyone; I am designing for myself. I do hope that the look and style of these pages resonates with you- but if they don't that's okay too. I want to style these pages in a way that I think is cool and interesting while using languages I enjoy playing with. And honestly, I realistically don't envision many people seeing this site: I'll show friends and family and that's probably the extent of it. It may be just another site lost to the void. But right now you are here- whoever you are. And I hope you, my dear visitor, can see my creativity on display here.