I’ve been playing with Downpour recently. It’s a lot of fun.
You could explain what Downpour is by comparing it to something like Hypercard. By combining text, images with some basic interactivity you can create little packages of hypertext that you can publish for anyone to use.
You could also explain Downpour as a tool for making simple free-form websites. It’s an app that allows you to create a package of HTML, CSS and Javascript you can upload to the web.
But neither of those really get to the core of it.
It’s a scrapbooking tool where you can quickly throw together photos and text, linking them together across pages. Every page can have a wildly different look-and-feel. Digital collages. What you create might be called a game. Or a quiz. Or a tutorial. Or a photo story. Or interactive art.
It’s for creating whatever you want using the tools its provides.
While Downpour is an app. That’s about making the tools available on a device where anyone can use them. It’s not about lock-in. You can export your creations and host them on a static website if you want to.
But not everyone is comfortable doing that technical work around self-hosting. Which is exactly where tools like Downpour excel. They let anyone make and share something with a minimum of effort.
(And even if you’re got all the technical skill in the world, sometimes minimum effort is exactly what you need.)
There’s a great interview with V Buckenham on Polygon which explores where Downpour sits alongside other creatives tools. And some developer notes that V wrote about the design.
It’s been fun exploring what other people have made. Play a game or make some tea with Terry Cavanagh. Learn about Lime Bikes. I enjoyed being a weird bird, have summoned some strange beasts and played a dubloon adventure.
Many of my daily interactions with the web are mediated by little boxes of content. All laid out the same way and offering the same set of actions. It’s one reason why I like to follow bots on social media to mix things up a tiny bit.
There’s a lot of cheerful creative chaos in Downpour and I’m here for it.
Anyway, this is all a roundabout way to offer up a link to my own little creation.
I remembered it was Alien Day this month (today!) so I thought I’d do something themed around my favourite film. Maybe a quiz?
I ended up with Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.
It’s about Alien, but it’s not really about Alien. It’ll take you less than 5 minutes.
It’s a ridiculous thing. Maybe five other people in the world will likely find amusing. But I’d have never thought of making it if Downpour hadn’t challenged me to fill an empty canvas.
I like that the set of options and interactions are limited. It’s meant I’ve spent less time exploring the options and more time just making things.
I love that the icon for the customise style option is a dress.
Ten out of ten, will Downpour again.
Lost Boy 