The Denim Archival Process.

The Denim Archival Process.

This page details how Denim Archive was made.

Tools

  • (primarily Google Forms and Google Sheets)

    Google Drive was used to collect and organize information about people’s jeans.

  • (https://www.adobe.com/express/feature/image/remove-background )

    This free online tool was used to remove backgrounds from the images of jeans that participants submitted.

  • (the website builder and host)

    Squarespace was used to build denimarchive.org, and to host that domain. Though it is not free, Squarespace was determined to be the most effective platform for this project.

  • (the web browser)

    Google Chrome was used throughout this project to access the above tools, to conduct research, to communicate with people involved in the project, and more.

Process

  • The first step was to collect the information for each pair of jeans that would be used to comprise the archive.

  • The second step was to format the information—words and photos—that participants had submitted through the form.

  • The next step was to input the information into the website builder.

  • The final step was to publish the website to the internet.

Step 1: Collect

(information about people’s jeans).

The first step was to collect the information for each pair of jeans that would be used to comprise the archive.

To facilitate and organize this collection process, a Google Form was made (this Google Form).

The form has seven prompts (and a thank you at the end).

By answering these prompts, participants provided the information and photos about their jeans that are used in the archive.

This form has been dispersed through a variety of different channels—email, newsletter, social media, et cetera—in an attempt to maximize participation.

Step 2: Format

(the information that was submitted).

The second step was to format the information—words and photos—that participants had submitted through the form.

Formatting words:

One of the benefits of using a Google Form is that the responses are all formatted into a spreadsheet, like this:

So, the written responses were auto-formatted through the corresponding Google Form and Sheet.

Formatting images:

In order to achieve the look of a typology, the images of jeans needed to be made somewhat uniform. The main thing that needed to happed was the removal of the image backgrounds. Meaning, taking an image of jeans with the background, and making the background transparent (see below).

There are many ways to do this background removal. The Adobe Express “Free Image Background Remover” is one free option that is accessed through a web browser. One uploads the image, then it does the rest, and presents you with a downloadable .png (which can also be converted to other file formats).

The Google Sheet with the written answers was stored in Google Drive, which automatically backs it up.

The photos were re-uploaded to a Google Drive folder once reformatted, and were also backed up on a hard drive.

Step 3: Input

(the formatted info into the website builder).

The next step was to input the information into the website builder.

The website builder and hosting platform Squarespace was used to make this website.

There are countless Squarespace tutorials online, such as this video series on their website: “Video Series: Getting Started with Squarespace” and by many independent creators on YouTube. Here is one example:

The structure of the archive parts of the website starts with the main “Jeans” page, with the gallery of jeans, and then each pair of jeans in that gallery links to a separate webpage with the information for that pair of jeans.

For instance, when you click on the circled pair of jeans, you are sent to this page with the information about them.

After the layout for the individual jean pages was determined, a template of that page was made. Then, the information for each pair of jeans was inputted into that template, the page was renamed to correspond to the jeans, and the page was linked via the corresponding image in the main gallery of jeans. Now, when each pair of jeans on the home page is clicked on, the viewer is taken to more information about those jeans.

Step 4: Publish

(the archive onto the world wide web).

The final step was to publish the website to the internet.

Again, the website builder and hosting platform Squarespace was used to make this website.

The website was accessible via password for a window of time before each web page was finished, so that it could be viewed by certain people in order for edits to be suggested.

Once all the web pages (both the archive pages and the other pages on the site) on denimarchive.org were finished, the site was published to that domain.

Squarespace is not free when used in this capacity.

A free alternative (such as Wix or Weebly) would have meant no custom domain. These factors were weighed throughout the process of making denimarchive.org .