Project Title: Community-Centered Sovereign Language Technologies for Online Knowledge Repositories

Date: December, 2025

Type: Graphic Design / Interactive Storytelling Specialist

Location: Remote

1. Project Background

Whose Knowledge? is developing an interactive “scrollytelling” website similar to Junko’s Story (SBS) or Slavery’s New Frontier (Reuters). We are engaging a web developer, but we require a visual specialist to design the interface and create the high-quality assets that drive the narrative.

2. Project Objectives

The objective is to create a cohesive visual identity that translates a text-heavy investigation into a visually stunning digital experience. The design must account for the unique constraints of scrolling interactions (e.g., how images fade in/out, how text overlays video).

3. Scope of Work

The Graphic Designer will work closely with the Web Developer to ensure designs are technically feasible.

A. Visual Identity & UI Design

• Concept development: Create a Mood Board and style guide (typography, color palette, iconography) that matches the emotional tone of the story.
• Interface design: Design high-fidelity mockups for key scenes in Figma.
• Responsive layouts: Explicitly design how the experience adapts from a wide Desktop view to a narrow Mobile view (vertical stacking).

B. Asset Creation

• Data visualization: Design static assets for charts or maps (or SVG layers) that the developer will animate.
• Illustration: Create custom illustrations or collage-style graphics to fill gaps where photo/video footage is unavailable.
• Web optimization: Export all assets in web-ready formats (SVG for icons, compressed WebP/JPG for images, transparent PNGs for scroll overlays).

4. Deliverables

1. Style guide: Font faces, color palette, and button/interaction states.
2. Figma: A click-through prototype showing the flow of the story.
3. Asset library: A structured folder containing all final images, icons, and map layers, properly named and optimized for web use.

5. Timeline

• Hiring Closing Date: We are hiring on a rolling basis—please send us your proposals as soon as you can!
• Design kickoff: Mid January, 2026
• Wireframes/Mockups approval: End February, 2026
• Low fidelity assets delivery: Early April, 2026
• Final asset handover to developer: Early May, 2026

6. Budget

To be proposed by the candidate based on scope.

7. Candidate Requirements

• Given the African context of this study, preference will be given to a Graphic Designer from this region.
• Proficiency in Figma (preferred for developer hand-off).
• Experience designing editorial or long-form journalism layouts (magazine or web).
• Understanding of web limitations (e.g., file sizes, mobile responsiveness).
• Portfolio Requirement: Please provide a link to a portfolio showing web or editorial design work.

Contact:

Send your proposal to languages[at]whoseknowledge[dot]org with subject line: Graphic Designer [Your Name]

Project Title: Community-Centered Sovereign Language Technologies for Online Knowledge Repositories

Publication Date: December, 2025

Type: Web Development / Creative Coding

Location: Remote

1. Project Background

Whose Knowledge? is seeking a specialized web developer or creative agency to design and build a high-impact, narrative-driven website.

Our goal is to present a complex story using the “scrollytelling” format—a technique that combines long-form journalism with interactive multimedia elements that trigger as the user scrolls. We are inspired by the following examples:

• SBS Australia: Junko’s Story
• Reuters: Slavery’s New Frontier

2. Project Objectives

The primary objective is to transform our Language Technologies research-in-action findings into an immersive digital experience that:

• Engages the audience emotionally through audio, visuals, and interaction.
• Retains user attention significantly longer than standard articles.
• Visualizes complex data or geographical information intuitively.
• Works seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices.

3. Scope of Work

The developer/agency will be responsible for the full front-end life cycle of the project. Specific tasks include:

A. Creative Implementation

• Scrollytelling logic: Implement “scroll-triggered” events where text overlays lock into place while background visuals (video, maps, or illustrations) transition, fade, or animate.
• Multimedia integration: Seamless looping of background videos, synchronization of audio narration with scroll position, and handling of high-resolution imagery.
• Data visualization: Creation of interactive charts or maps that update dynamically as the user reads.

B. Technical Development

• Responsive design: The site must offer a degraded but fully functional experience on mobile devices (vertical stacking) vs. the immersive wide experience on desktop.
• Performance optimization: Heavy assets (video/audio) must be lazy-loaded to ensure fast initial load times and smooth 60fps scrolling performance.
• Accessibility: Best-effort compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards (e.g., keyboard navigation, alt text for screen readers, reduced motion options).
• Localization/Multilingual Support: The website must be fully localized to support content in three languages: English, Kishwahili, and Amharic, with a clear mechanism for language switching.

The developer/agency will work closely with a Graphic Designer to ensure designs are technically feasible.

4. Technical Requirements & Preferred Stack

We are open to the developer’s/agency’s recommendations, but we anticipate the use of the following technologies often used in storytelling sites:

• Base application framework
  • Framework selection: The solution should be built on a modern, widely-supported web framework. Suggestions include Svelte, Vue.js, or React, though other comparable modern frameworks are acceptable.
  • Standardization: Apart from the specific scrollytelling visualization, the codebase should rely on standard ecosystem tools to ensure future maintainability.
  • Licensing (general): The core application stack must use open-source licenses (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0) compatible with commercial distribution.
• Scrollytelling and display engine
  • Use of specialized libraries: We encourage the use of established, professional-grade libraries for the scrollytelling interactions (e.g., GSAP or similar specialized tools). We prefer a robust, existing solution over a custom “built-from-scratch” implementation.
  • Media handling: The solution must be capable of smoothly scrubbing through media assets (SVG sequences, HTML5 Video, or Canvas/WebGL elements) without causing scroll-jacking or stuttering.
  • Licensing (specific): If a proprietary or paid library is proposed for this specific component, it must be clearly stated. The license must allow for the intended use-case without recurring royalties.
• Content management and data structure
  • Text-based workflow: We expect to provide inputs via text files. The system should read from structured, human-readable formats (specifically Markdown for narrative content and JSON/YAML for configuration) to populate the scrollytelling experience.
  • Updates: The architecture must support content updates by simply modifying these source files, ensuring the non-technical team can iterate on the story text independently.
  • Multilingual Content: The content architecture must support reading and rendering narrative text for English, Kishwahili, and Amharic, utilizing the established text-based workflow (e.g., separate Markdown files per language).

5. Deliverables

1. Wireframes/Storyboard: A rough layout of the scroll flow before coding begins.
2. Prototype: A “walking skeleton” showing the scroll mechanics without final polish.
3. Final Website: Fully deployed and tested on major browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge) and devices (iOS, Android).
4. Source Code: Clean, well-documented code repository (GitLab).
5. Documentation: A guide on how to update text or assets in the future.

6. Timeline

• Hiring Closing Date: We are hiring on a rolling basis—please send us your proposals as soon as you can!
• Project Kickoff: Early March, 2026
• Beta/Staging Release: End April, 2026
• Final Launch: Early June, 2026

7. Budget

To be proposed by the candidate or creative agency based on scope.

8. Candidate Requirements

The ideal candidate must provide a portfolio containing at least two (2) examples of scrollytelling or immersive web experiences. Standard corporate websites or e-commerce portfolios are not sufficient for this request.

9. Application Process

Interested parties should submit:

1. A brief proposal outlining their technical approach (e.g., “We plan to use SvelteKit and GSAP”).
2. A portfolio of relevant work.
3. A cost breakdown.

Contact:

Send your proposal to languages[at]whoseknowledge[dot]org with subject line: Website developer [Your Name and/or your Agency’s Name]