Digital Art Imitates Life

Since we began developing this website, I think the hardest question has been: what should a website about David Bowie look like? As hackneyed as the word “chameleon” is in most every news bit about the man, his image really can’t be tied to one particular style. The designs of other top fan sites seem to gravitate toward favorite albums; Bowie Wonderworld leans toward Earthling, while TeenageWildlife.com is reminiscent of Hours. And where the look and feel of Bowienet aligns itself with the most recent album, none of the redesigns have compared to its initial Outside-related design. I always wish I could view the current content in that original interface.

Which got me to thinking, what if that were possible? What if our visitors could choose the design of CrackedActor.com to look like their favorite album? Cascading stylesheets make it entirely possible to separate the design from the content, and cookies could let each user pick and store their own preference. So I messed around with the idea and it looks like it actually works.

Go ahead, give it a shot. Over on the left where it says “Select Your Theme”, click on another album title. The page should reload with a different skin. I just made up few samples to start with, but eventually we might have all the studio albums covered. And your preference should stick until you pick another theme or clear your web browser’s cookies. All I need to do now is apply the design to the rest of the site.