Stay for a while

Online publications are often little more than digital adaptations of print titles, but Dwell’s redesign is inspired by social media platforms and their impact on how consumers interact with content.

Its stories are more visually driven and there is a clear focus on fostering communication and collaboration between readers, members of Dwell’s editorial team and the designers and brands that feature on the website.

Readers create a profile, list their likes and dislikes, and follow other users with similar interests. The website uses this data to deliver a curated feed of articles that have been ‘liked’ by a user’s peers rather than a chronological stream of the latest industry news.

‘There are a tonne of websites out there that provide great inspiration, such as Instagram and Pinterest,’ says Bobby Gaza, former Apple engineer and chief technology officer at Dwell. ‘They are fantastic with that stuff, but don’t connect with collaboration well, like, what am I going to get out of the inspiration?’