Canvases versus Documents

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Style Pass

2024-10-06 07:00:03

Much web design has reflected that of paper documents: finite with clearly defined edges. But by no means is the canvas style recent, as we can see in Space Jam.

I feel a shift in style is ongoing: the big text on a clear background is now becoming bordered. See Zed, Hebbia, or Matrices.

But it’s not the front page that needs a border, it’s the fact that a clearly defined container gives a sense of coherence to the sections underneath the top part (which I refer to as the storefront, or just front because it’s the first thing you see), without which seem lost in space.

There’s another resizing issue I’ve seen where the container size is big enough to fit the width of the screen, so there ends up being no padding on the left or right side, making the document weird. I’m generally against using Tailwind’s container class because it has multiple breakpoints, which is saying that there are 4-5 different sized documents that represent your website, and you have to design specifically for each of them.

Another issue is that they attempt a “canvas-style” immersive effect but for text. Text is meant for reading. Text is meant to be understood and quickly scanned. Websites are attempting a “canvas-style” design, generally better for conveying feeling, but for text, which is meant to convey meaning and immersion. I’ve always felt that a lot of websites would look much better if they shrank the text size and container width.