benfridge

on the duty of not having a mobile site

My website does not have a mobile version.

This is not an oversight, a budget constraint, or a problem I am “actively working on.” It's a choice.

Much like Thoreau retreating to a small cabin to see what remained when the noise was stripped away or Benedict leaving Rome for the hills to hold onto something lost in turbulent times, this site was built for a different pace: a chair, a desk, a large screen, and a little time. It favors width over convenience, whitespace over efficiency, and studying over scrolling. It asks, perhaps abruptly and boorishly, that you sit down.

Mobile design is good at many things. It is fast, adaptable, and frictionless. But a lack of friction has a way of flattening experience. Some things benefit from resistance: turning pages, waiting for images to load, noticing margins, staying awhile. This site lives there.

The blog feed you're reading this explainer from is open-source to read from, so feel free to glance at a few posts, but to get to the projects, designs, and philosophy of my work, visit again later.

Consider it an invitation, not an error: come back later, on a bigger screen, when you’re not in line or in motion.