Min Choi, Vertical Reading
In this text, Min Choi dissects Roma Publications’ somewhat “rudimentary”
website, which has barely changed since the early 2000’s. Breaking the
conventions and the nature of their table, the author decides to read their
website vertically into its different table contents: issue number, title,
artist(s), pages, size, collaboration and year. As she reads, she speculates
about what the slightly different design choices could mean or tell about
this art publisher.
I find this more scientific approach to reading very interesting, because
it allows you to discover new things. I think what the author was trying
to do was to look at it from a distance instead of through it. What I find
fascinating about it, is that nowadays we receive an overwhelming amount of
information each day, and there is a need of finding new methods of looking
at things to not get overwhelmed or distracted by the amount of content.
Also, it’s an invitation to be more unconventional, which ironically, became
an easier task with Roma’s essentially conventional table website.
Qs:
Is there one correct way of reading a website?
How much does the design influence the way we read it?