Reading Response 1: A Handmade Web

1. What is the thesis of this article?

I believe the thesis of the article talks about the proof within the relationship between handmade articles and the web. It speaks to the irony between both terms as one almost contrasts the other fully. When we normally think of the term handmade it comes in the form of artisanal or physical items such as books, woodcraft, painting, and sculpting. We don't connect the word "web" with handmade because the "web" is mostly associated with the digital realm, contrasting what we normally think of as "handmade." This article argues that there is a relationship between both terms and what the output becomes.

2. Carpenter describes the handmade web as a form of resistance. In your own words, what is being resisted?

The handmade web resists what is normally associated with the term "web." Things such as the digital environment, technology, and overall computer-generated items are what are associated with the web. The handmade web resists these terms and its preconceived judgment of the web and its associations. While it takes every word association to create a handmade, the way it is created contrasts these ideas resisting our prejudgment. I also believe it resists the modern way of creating websites, taking platforms such as Squarespace and Wix, and adding a personal association with your own handmade web.

3. Reflecting on your own experiences, what are other examples of drawing attention the "physicality" of the web?

One aesthetic that I've seen pop up throughout web designs is the physicality within the real world and applying it to how a user interacts with the web. Our design choices evolve from making our websites look like "websites" to creating a situation that we experience in our day-to-day lives and letting choices that need to be made form those interactions in the website. Many previous students' indexes are, for example, contrasting the original look of a website, using a vending machine or buying something online and getting the next page "shipped to you"in the website to get to where you wanna be within their website.