New Zork Times
A newspaper from somewhere that does not quite exist.
THE STORY BEHIND THE BUILD
A JSON-driven newspaper project that turns separately authored articles and issues into a browsable publication.
01 / CASE NOTE
The premise
Build a fictional newspaper that feels like a publication, rather than a collection of joke posts. The publication is its own little world inside the site.
02 / CASE NOTE
Content first
Articles and issues are stored separately as JSON. That keeps the writing portable and lets EJS control the presentation without forcing a PDF-based workflow.
03 / CASE NOTE
The design problem
A newspaper has to balance hierarchy and density. Headlines, sections, issue context, and individual articles need to feel connected while remaining easy to navigate on the web.
04 / CASE NOTE
Where it can go
More issues, more recurring sections, and increasingly elaborate fictional reportage — without changing the underlying idea of structured content feeding reusable templates.