“I made my first web-based work in 1995. The impetus for Fishes & Flying Things came from the material practices of fine art and book-making. The text evolved from an installation art exhibition I had on at the time. From this text, I created a small book-work which was meant to tell a circular story but when people got to the end they stopped reading because that’s the way books work. In the web version, the last page linked to the first; the story circled round and round. Of the installation, no physical evidence remains. Of the book-work, only one copy. The QuarkExpress file is stored on a 44 MB SyQuest cartridge which I still own, but the contents of which I can no longer access. The handmade website, on the other hand, is still online and it still works.”
I found the quote intriguing; it mainly compares the difference between printed books and handmade webs. It suggests that no matter how beautiful and splendid of the content of the books are, they have an end. However, handmade websites are endless, infinitive, and flexible; no one can predict the result.
Online websites are unique, and up to date; they have been created to serve a purpose by the creators. Designers and developers design websites by adding different elements on the servers; their web page doesn’t have absolute formate. (Instead of using existed examples) Hence, it allows more rooms for creativity (Stimulate imagination) and prevents designers from losing their identity. There is no limit to make an innovative website when developers write everything from scratch.
Although originally made websites have so many benefits, why it hasn’t been adopted by the majority of designers or artists? Do graphic designers really have to learn all the languages to design a web? If designers use InDesign to design a website layout and ask the developer to create the sites. Do the websites still have value?