The guide form I chose for this topic is an interactive map (page).
Examples:
https://demos.mapbox.com/scrollytelling/
https://theirc.github.io/watchlist2021/
Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)
- For my theme Border, a map suits it best. This map divides content into many sections, providing space to organize the topic’s points. Moreover, the map itself is like background and is not interactive. It makes the web page look like a magazine page. So users should focus on the content provided by the author instead of exploring the map to unexpected places.
How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?
- This map is often used to tell stories in a geographic context. The press adopts the form covering population’s demographics, the environment, an international conflict, etc.
- I would add buttons in the text area to allow users to jump between sections.
What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?
- If I tried a static map, I had to organize all content on the same page, which requires more typography skills.
- It provides a lens of countries or regions. It’s an up-to-down angle if we talk about specific things. For example, how do international relations affect people, and how does geography affect the government’s decisions.
Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)?
Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?
- A map is already a visual metaphor, for it is a guide itself. A metaphor suited to a map can be a map on which countries are topic items.
- If we imagine areas as dishes, “season dishes” is like “power the country”. Thus I compare salt to power.
- (From the dishes metaphor above, a quote comes to my mind: “Governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish — Tao Te Ching” (治大国，若烹小鲜)