1.2 KiB
13 · Index-First
The page IS a list of links. No hero image, no narrative flow. Pure navigation as design.
- Heading: one short paragraph at the top introducing the index, no display type.
- Body: vertical list of categorised links; sometimes a sidebar of filters.
- Divider: hairline rules between rows; or zero rules with paper-colour bands.
- Button: the links themselves are the buttons.
- Image: none, or tiny favicons by each entry.
- Reveal: none.
Reach for it for documentation hubs, knowledge bases, archive front pages, design system entries, link-in-bio pages with substance.
Avoid for marketing pages. Index-First is for browsing audiences; selling needs structure.
Reference: Are.na's homepage feel, archive sites, documentation indices.
Sample opening lines (imitate the specificity — Index-First openings are headers for what's below, sometimes nothing more than a label):
"Selected work · 2018 — 2026." — date range, no preamble "Things Become Other Things · Lightness above weightiness." — craigmod.com — two phrases joined by a divider "Writer + Photographer." — craigmod.com — three words, summarises the whole site