Week 1 Theory Lecture
push the letters around... then scroll down
Week 1 Theory Lecture
push the letters around... then scroll down
Where websites have personality, communities thrive, and technology serves people.
The web is magic—but it's magic we can learn. Actually, the real secret is that websites are just text files talking to each other. No platform required, and no subscription! There is nothing here only words.
Big tech (big web) controls the platforms that host the sites, and most people only visit 5-10 sites regularly. Design trends quickly spread and homogenise those few sites. "Professional" = corporate. Dark patterns from search to nudge to cookies and tracking, manipulate users everywhere.
It didn't start out this way.
The very concept of "branding" comes from burning marks into cattle—a claim of ownership. When we talk about "personal branding," we're adopting the language of capitalism, turning ourselves into products to be marketed. This is a type of self-colonisation.
Branding smooths out all the awkward and the weird, removing friction. It demands a 'legibility to capital'* — measuring everything by reductive, quantifiable metrics. It dehumanises — reducing human labour to "units," creativity to "content," people to "audiences" and "markets", and ultimately we all become the product to be optimised.
*'legibility to capital' is a fascinating term (but an anathema to our purposes) — further reading
Think about it: So many tech startup look identical. They use templated gradient logos (actually don't a lot of AI company logos look oddly alike ~ circular? They currently all use sans-serif fonts, and of course they have "friendly" illustrations of diverse cartoon people. difference is illegible, everything becomes nice and safe for investors.
That's not what we're doing here, in #Hashtag.
We figure your #Hashtag website won't be a brand (sorry!) but more of a garden. It can be a space you tend, that changes with seasons, that grows with weeds and flowers together. What if inconsistency was not a bug, but a feature? Maybe evidence of quirky, messy, human authenticity?
& then, what dies when a platform dies?
_______________
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| GRAVEYARD |
| |
| Vine (2017) |
| Google+ (2019) |
| Orkut (2014) |
| MySpace |
| Tumblr |
| Yahoo Answers |
| GeoCities |
| Twitter ... |
| |
| All that |
| content. |
| Gone or |
| orphaned. |
| |
| R.I.P. |
| |
|___________________|
|___________________|
/\
/ \
/ \
/ \
/________\
/ \
/__ARCHIVE____\
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| Internet |
| Archive's |
| Wayback |
| Machine |
| |
| Digital |
| archaeology |
| |
| 580+ billion |
| pages saved |
| | | |
|____|____|____|
/________________\
/__________________\
web.archive.org →
Your Instagram isn't yours, your threads are not yours, your TikToks aren't yours, your youtubes are not yours either.
Your tweets weren't yours, etc etc. Only your domain is yours.
Western design assumptions aren't universal truths — Which means dmaximalism isn't clutter or chaos, and less isn't always more. Community-first interfaces exist everywhere—we just don't notice them in the Silicon Valley version of internet.
(drag the stars to rearrange the constellation)
ABC Indigenous · AIATSIS · Creative Spirits · BlakDance · Koori Mail · IndigenousX · First Australians (NMA) · GAMBAY
"Good design" is a product that keeps 'versioning' and it looks completely different depending on where you're standing.
It's not just within the four edges of a website.
Your presence doesn't have to live in one place. It doesn't have to look like anyone else's. It just has to be yours.
Reclaiming digital spaces for creativity, community, and weirdness.
Right-click → View Source → It's all just HTML
A response to the attention economy
Like the Slow Food movement resisted fast food culture, the Slow Web resists the hyper-optimised, attention-harvesting, platform-controlled digital environment. It's not about dial-up speeds—it's about intentionality, durability, and craft.
| Slow Web | Fast Web |
|---|---|
| Durability Content is preserved, maintained, yours |
Content is ephemeral, algorithm-driven, platform-owned |
| Deep Engagement Designed for thought and reflection |
Maximising clicks, scrolling, time-on-site |
| Ownership You control your space |
You're a tenant in walled gardens |
| Craft Handmade, intentional, unique |
Templated, homogenous, "efficient" |
"Fast" serves platforms. "Slow" serves people.
Typography = the art of arranging letters so they:
→ Can be read
→ Communicate a feeling/tone
→ Look intentional (not accidental)
Same words. Completely different feeling.
(hover to reveal font name)
The WORDS are identical. The FEELING is completely different. That's typography.
You don't have to pick a side, (we REALLY don't want you to). You should feel free to move along the spectrum. The choice of where to stop for a beat IS the design.
This week: you'll create your first webpage.
& you'll learn the tools to join the weird, wild web.
then you'll have your own platform to experiment.