Web History Chapter 6: Web Design A Chapter by Jay Hoffmann css-tricks.com After the first websites demonstrate the commercial and aesthetic potential of the web, the media industry floods the web with a surge of new content. Amateur webzines — which define and voice and tone unique to the web — are soon joined by traditional publishers. By the mid to late 90’s, most major companies will have a website, and the popularity of the web will begin to explore. Search engines emerge as one solution to cataloging the expanding universe of websites, but even they struggle to keep up. Brands soon begin to look for a way to stand out. A Dao of Web Design wwwuxinterfacesdesign
A Tractate on Japanese Aesthetics A Book by Donald Richie www.goodreads.com Listings and jottingsProcess vs. productWe have been given a standardMerely ornateNo words to describe+4 More
Listings and jottings Most likely to succeed in defining Japanese aesthetics is a net of associations composed of listings or jottings, connected intuitively, that fills in a background and renders the subject visible. collections
Process vs. product ...more concerned with process than with product, with the actual construction of a self than with self-expression. designidentitymaking
We have been given a standard We have been given a standard to use. It is there, handy daily: things as they are, or Nature itself. This makes good sense, the only sense really—Nature should be our model. naturemaking
Merely ornate There is nothing merely ornate about nature: every branch, twig, or leaf counts. natureornament
No words to describe If there is no term for something, it might be thought that the commodity is of small importance. But it is just as likely that this something is of such importance that it is taken for granted, and thus any conveniences, like words, for discussing it are unnecessary. The quality without a nameThis is Water meaningwords
Mimesis Realism played small part in the realities of life as experienced by the traditional Japanese artist. The expectations of the artist's cultivated sensibilities did not demand mimesis. Rather, indication, suggestion, simplicity took the place of any fidelity to outward appearance. art
Cherry blossoms Cherry blossoms are to be preferred not when they are at their fullest but afterward, when the air is thick with their falling petals and with the unavoidable reminder that they too have had their day and must rightly perish. Immortality, in that it is considered at all, is to be found through nature's way. The form is kept though the contents evaporate. deathnature
Wabi-sabi Sabi is an aesthetic term, rooted in a given concern. It is concerned with chronology, with time and its effects, with product. Wabi is a more philosophical concept, a quality not attached merely to a given object. It is concerned with manner, with process, with direction. wabi-sabi
How painful life here would be A mountain village Where there is not even hope Of a visitor: If not for the loneliness, How painful life here would be. — Saigyo (Donald Keene translation) melancholysolitude