Nuws
Vincent Merle
Nuws exists to create a space where users can read news articles void of visual context. This creates the possibility of ignoring visual clues that would otherwise link these pieces to specific sources and their respective political leanings.The only piece of constructed visual language lives in the interface itself, and carries the meaning of the whole project. Users can search for news, be served real and current articles about said search query.
They will have the power to tell the interface which content they enjoyed. The code will then identify the source of the liked article as either Conservative or Liberal by assigning it a numeric value. During browsing, those values will constantly add up (or be subtracted) and create an ever changing “score.” This score will influence the only piece of constructed visual language: the background gradient. If the scores diminish, as people read more conservative articles, the gradient will slowly turn red; and vice versa.
What could seem like a trick is rather a way to make my audience reflect on what makes them choose what to consume. On a societal level, I am hoping to make people bridge to the other side — politically — not necessarily to agree, just to listen and exchange. After all, reading articles from the opposite side, without knowing it directly, makes one focus on the content rather than preconceptions their sources carry.