Telling a story
without flipping through pages

Written by Maddy Casey and Nene Villalobos
Edited by Claudia Berger

Initially written October 19, 2024

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As part of their contribution to our project, our team member Nene is exploring the relationship between the CBA’s exhibitions and New York City’s history through a scroll-able digital timeline.  I sat down with them to discuss one of the challenges to their project: adapting a digital tool with a set linear structure to express the complex story they want to tell.

Hello Nene! Tell me about your project, what are you trying to do?

My project is an attempt to contextualize the exhibitions from the Center for Book Arts with events in NYC. I’m trying to understand in a linear timeline what was going on in the city, and what prompted some of the exhibitions.

My initial idea of what I wanted to do, to what I’m doing now has changed drastically. When Gillian Lee from the CBA came and spoke to us about book arts at the beginning of our project, they mentioned that around the time when the CBA was founded, most of the artist book institutions, not just in NYC but across the U.S. were also founded. I was really captivated by what was going on in NYC, what was going on across the U.S., that prompted the creation of these institutions.

Methodologically, how have you been going about trying to address and answer that research question?

Initially I was looking at the exhibition data, trying to figure out if there is an overarching, obvious theme. And short answer, there isn’t a straightforward theme with all of these exhibitions.  I think that was a very novice understanding of exhibitions and book arts holistically, my own bias coming into the project.  It wasn’t until I started to outline what it is I’m trying to say with the history, that I started to understand that at seminal moments in NYC’s history, there tends to be an exhibition that correlates with that. So it entailed a bit of rephrasing of my initial question, going back into the data altogether, stepping away from the exhibitions to focus on what was going on in NYC, and from there doing an infinite circle of finding key dates and then exploring the exhibition data csv to see what was going on at the CBA. I gave myself 20 different historical events to highlight. It’s a bit of trial and error. It’s similar to an art medium, where I need to learn a new tool to paint or draw. CSV files- I don’t know how to use this tool just yet, but I can do something that I know, which is, exploring key points in the history of the CBA- it was founded in the seventies, it moved three times, things changed drastically during the pandemic- these moments make sense.

But I had to step back and look at what I’m trying to ask. I think in DH (digital humanities) effective research comes down to “what is it that I’m trying to ask?” “and how am i trying to get there?”  Initially I was trying to do something that was more enriched with a digital tool, and do something that looks cool, and not really caring about the research question.  And then I had to remember, oh wait that’s not how research works. That’s not how my project becomes beneficial to an audience, so let me be a bit more cognizant of how I’m trying to articulate my idea, my argument, and if there is an argument.

If I was to do this project all over again, I think I would spend more time finding certain exhibitions that stand out, and I think that only comes from sitting with the data, and cleaning it, and figuring out what I am trying to understand.

What is a challenge you’ve faced as you’ve tried to develop a timeline with those reframed research questions?

I can’t really do a lot of interactivity with ScrollyTeller. It’s just basically HTML, a static page. And from there, I could have little room to mess around with it.  But I think that constraint on this project, my technological limitations, is making me think of creative solutions.

Could you give an example of how you think the constraints of the project and your technological skills with this particular ScrollyTeller tool are helping you think through those questions a bit more creatively?

The tool is structured linearly; it starts at the top, and  you have to work your way all the way down.  So I have to make sure I have a strong outline. And I decided to start off with the opening, when the CBA was founded.  That’s the first portion of the scrolly teller. As far as other events, as an example, Earth Day in NYC in the seventies was very prominent, and prompted a lot of artists to bring the idea and practice of sustainability into their work. So I started to see some exhibitions using reusable paper, and ideas about applying a more precious sentiment to ephemeral material. As far as the technological way of bringing these ideas to life in a static page, I realized it may be helpful to embed a google slide.  I’m also trying to think about how I could teach others to replicate the project or use the tool. 

So you’re thinking more about how you convey linear events in a way that is engaging, while also trying to contextualize it in a way that doesn’t feel as linear, because you’re thinking about a holistic environment? 

Yes

Tell me about the ScrollyTeller tool, what have you done so far, and what have you found to be its limitations in terms of how you’re expressing concepts?

It consists of a Google Doc that holds all of the html for my project and from there, I take the Google Doc url and upload it to ScrollyTeller, which generates a published version of this website, hosted through Davidson University.  So there is a server that is hosting it.

In terms of limitations, for example, I was thinking about changing some of the font types in the Google Doc that holds all of the html. I went on to Google Fonts, I found a family of fonts that I wanted to use, I took the code and I tried to embed it within the google doc that is hosting all of this html, and immediately when I went to refresh my project, it broke. So a limitation of ScrollyTeller, is that there is a limited, embedded style guide that is already set as standard. I believe most of the type in there is either Arial for titles, or Helvetica for headings. That I can’t really alter. Also when you upload a photo to a header, the header itself is already sized and I tried and failed to change and rearrange it, and to adjust transitions from one image to the next.  I want to have some control over those elements, but I just can’t.

Does it say anywhere what the dimensions for the header has to be?

No. Personally, I really enjoy creating graphic elements and doing a bit of design, so not having that full control is a bit limiting. But it forces me to think about other things to pay attention to, such as, does my outline make sense? Do I understand how to convey my narrative to the audience, through storytelling? I’m already working in someone else’s system, and I have to abide by their system if I want this to be successful. And that’s a bit challenging.  It’s one of those tools that is great if you don’t think about design details.

What resources did you look at, and which people have you spoken to to try and figure out what is possible within the tool?

I spoke to a few faculty within the department of Undergraduate Communication Design, about visual elements, and conveying ideas without stating them explicitly.   For example, I spoke to Nida Abdullah about semiotics; about the importance of using images that convey strong, striking messages without resulting in the opposite of a goal.  For example, you wouldn’t want a crossing sign to be placed in front of a wall because you can’t cross through a wall- that kind of thing. So we talked about the importance of thinking through visual elements that really strengthen your argument. I was also talking to one of my close friends, who’s a former student about how sometimes language does one thing, but an image does another.

As far as the platform I used, I looked for open source scrolling narrative platforms. So far the only one that I’ve found that’s either open source, that’s on github, or that is free, is the one that I’m using. I have also been using Miriam Posner’s tutorials.

As you’ve been working, how have you been addressing roadblocks, when you can’t figure out what you want to do?

Mainly through googling. Through YouTube tutorials, and as far as html, I’ve been using W3 schools.

What would you say you’ve learned from the process?

I think I’ve learned how to be confident in coding with html, I’m at a very basic level, but for me it’s a huge accomplishment. Another thing that I’ve learned is relying on and communicating with other classmates that are doing similar or adjacent work. And I think I’m also learning that if an idea isn’t working, I need to step away from it, and do some kind of flow state work, then return to the problem.

So you’ll go do some data tidying work, and turn off your brain.  It’s like when you have good ideas in the shower.

Exactly.

Good ideas in the spreadsheet!

I think that’s a huge thing I learned, I can clean data like no tomorrow. Which I didn’t know about myself before, so it’s a huge accomplishment.

What’s next as you’re working on your project, and where would you say it is right now?

Right now it is 60% done on an arbitrary scale. Meaning that I have my outline done, I have all the exhibitions that I’m pulling to tell the story done, same thing with the events of NYC, and now I just need to sit down, add my content to the Google Doc, and code it in html. I also need to make some graphics and visual assets to bring some of the ideas to life. 

In Closing… helpful questions to ask yourself when working on a similar project:

• What is the research question driving my project?
• Why am I asking this research question?
• What is the story I am trying to tell with my project?
• What types of tool(s) are available that can help me get my point across?
• Are there free, open source tools that are available to me?
• What are the limitations and constraints of the tool I am using and how can I adapt my workflow and storytelling to still get my point across?
• What skills and knowledge do I bring to my project, which will help me navigate using a new tool?
• When I am overwhelmed, what can I do to step back from the project and refresh?

*Author’s Note: Following this interview, Nene decided to pivot to using StoryMaps as an alternative tool

Explore more of Nene’s work
Learn more about the Center for Book Arts’ recent exhibitions.