Lately I've been feeling in a bit of a wandering headspace. Maybe it's just the weather (heat wave here) or some recent travels. As I get back into routines I feel a pull to stay unstructured, to stay with the wander a bit longer.

fyi this email is a bit practical: a list of recent hyperlinks, an appreciation, some thoughts on the future of my practice.

A screenshot of Dandelion Coffee's new website by Bell Kiosk

In May, Dandelion, a cafe in Buxton, Derbyshire, reached out to me to design a website for them that they could use as a grounded space that they shape outside of social media.

I've always wanted to make a website for a cafe so it was an easy yes. I'm really excited about what we came up with.

A guiding question emerged through the process:

The site leads with all the important info: address, hours, menu, and has some playful features: blog, guestbook, and an illustration of the front window that changes throughout the day to make it feel a little bit alive.

An illustration of the outside of Dandelion that changes throughout the day based on the time in Derbyshire.

"We love old-school websites, hosted away from the big social media companies. If you want to know what’s going on with Dandelion, you can now see without being exposed against your will to any bait, any AI generated content, or any third-party advertisements.

This site just contains the basics for now: where we are, when we’re open, what we serve, and what’s happening. The menus and coffee lists here will be updated every week, so visitors can plan their beverages in advance (which I know some of you will love)."

– Roy & Lili (dandelioncoffee.co.uk)

In May, I visited Seoul and Jeju Island for a residency at (salt). I want to thank Yoojin 유진, Eunchae 은채, Nuri 누리, Hyojeong 효정, Jisu Lee, Birdcall, (salt), Wearing Reading, Yeoro, Heesoo, Min Guhong, juggling4ever, Jerry and all the participants of Elliott Tour for hosting me and all the beautiful conversations over the weeks. I was deeply inspired by all the web artists, questions about how to make websites that feel alive, Jeju Island, the oreums. I feel incredibly grateful for this <time> together.

Hiking up an Oreum on Jeju during Elliott Tour in May.

A reading in the forest of the poems we wrote with Walk with it. Photo by (salt)

Working on our HTML scrapbooks together. Photo by (salt)

HTML pancakes made by (salt). Photo by (salt)

Writing down our Walk with it poems on the roof of (salt). Photo by (salt)

Being at (salt) got me thinking about what I'd like more of in life and what makes me feel alive these days.

A few years ago, I thought I might stop making websites but strangely this just led me to adjust how I relate to this medium and be more honest with the types of sites I want to put energy into.

I see websites a bit differently now: as a way to ground oneself, a way to write, as a social medium, and as a way to help people relate to the web in a healthier way.

This has turned my attention back to Bell Kiosk, a name that gathered dust for years but that I've recently returned to. Bell Kiosk is a web studio that helps people relate to the web in a more personal way, and hopefully puts more websites into the world that feel a little more human and alive.

Bell Kiosk values the following:

1. Making websites that feel personal, practical, alive, and human.
2. Collaborating with like-minded humans. E.g. working with Companion-Platform: turning their designs into a fully functioning maintainable website for Robida Collective's Uncommon Fruits project.
3. Making non-commercial community websites and organic software: Special Fish, One Minute Park, Star Star, HTML Energy that again bring aliveness to the web through feeling and community.

The thread through these: working on projects that bring a more intentional web into being.

If you'd like to work together on something, get in touch.

Wandering,
Elliott