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How Did I Get To This Website? is a web narrative that explains in deep detail about how the internet works. From the point of a mouse click or an enter button pressed (after a URL is typed), the computer sends a request for a website that gets back to a user in a human-legible context. But what happens in between? What is common knowledge about the internet is not necessarily the same as what computer engineers know about the internet. How Did I Get To This Website? aims to fill in those gaps that ordinary users do not know.
The work originally stemmed from my deep personal interest in computer science and programming, but became something much more as the year progressed. As a designer, researching these topics helped me gain a lot of knowledge of the platforms (web and mobile) I was designing on. I wanted to share that found knowledge with the world.
I found that the easiest way for me as a graphic designer to teach people about what I learned was through a narrative on the web. Not only was it accessible to all young professionals, but it was also entertaining and informative.
The narrative is constructed in scenes taking the user every step of the way, linking one scene to the next.
The color palette was derived from physical computing and circuitry.
I think these things are beautiful.
One of the biggest challenges I faced was picking each of these "scenes." I wanted to make the material digestable, yet thorough enough.
Another huge challenge was figuring out the drawings to go along with each of the scenes. Since a lot of the internet is physical, I conveyed that idea through perspective drawings that animate subtly.
Right now this website is a work in progress, I'm working on developing the site myself. You'll be able to find it at its home howdidigettothis.website in a few months!