Responses by Viacheslav Olianishyn and Olha Olianishyna, cofounders, Obys.

Background: Obys’ Design Books is a digital library that brings together the publications that have most influenced our team’s approach to design—the books that changed how we think, create and teach. Many of these titles originated from our Design Education Series, where students consistently asked for reading recommendations on subjects like color, typography, grids and the creative process.

The project became our way to gather that knowledge in one place: a living archive of design thinking. The collection blends highly technical manuals with deeply human reflections on creativity, discipline and perspective. It’s meant for designers, students and anyone curious about the foundations of visual communication, people who value structure as much as intuition.

In translating this idea into digital form, we wanted to preserve the physical feeling of browsing real books. Every title lives on its own paper-like page, all visible at once. Users can flip, switch and explore freely, moving through a layout that feels tactile and immediate. At its core, Obys’ Design Books is not just a resource but an experiment, a study in how digital space can evoke the sensory rhythm of analog design culture.

Design core: The core idea behind the site is interaction itself. We wanted to create an experience that feels tactile, intuitive and rooted in the physical world, something closer to handling printed materials than browsing a typical website. All pages are always visible on screen, and the user can switch between them instantly. The concept of simultaneous visibility and layered navigation defines the entire structure. To support this, each page has its own texture and visual style, referencing different types of printed paper. This brings subtle variety and enhances the sense of physicality.

There are also multiple ways to navigate: by clicking on the visible page, using the full-page menu or a condensed quick menu, and even by reordering the page stack. It’s a system designed to invite exploration, not just consumption.

Challenges: Rethinking navigation from the ground up. When every page is visible at once, the usual rules don’t apply. We couldn’t rely on classic layout structures or draw each screen in isolation. We had to simplify each page intentionally. If we used our typical level of detail, the overall composition would feel overwhelming. Instead, we reduced visual noise and treated each page as part of a larger system.

That led to new design questions: How do you create contrast between pages without breaking flow? How do you design layouts that work together without repeating colors or rhythms? Do we animate transitions or keep everything still, like print? None of this followed a template. Every decision had to be tested in context. That made the process more complex and more rewarding.

Technology: We used our standard custom stack for this project. The front end was built with CSS, HTML and JavaScript, with interactions powered by GSAP and Smooth Scroll for a fluid, tactile experience. On the back end, we used Strapi, a headless CMS that gave us the flexibility to structure and update content without constraints. The entire build was focused on maintaining performance while supporting an unconventional, layered layout system.