One of my favourite side projects is Issyk-Kul Institute for Applied Complexity (IAC) — a fully fictional research institute that lives on a very real website.
I designed it as a world-building and design experiment:
A homepage that looks like a serious research institute set against the Issyk-Kul landscape
Featured “research” cards, conference pages, and events that mimic real academic websites
A complete visual identity and layout system, built to feel plausible at first glance
To be clear:
IAC is not a real university or institution
It is an art / learning project about complexity science, systems thinking, and how scientific institutions present themselves online
For me, this project is a playground where I learn about:
Information architecture and how to structure research-driven websites
Storytelling through interface design
The line between fiction and reality on the internet
If you enjoy strange internet projects like this, or if this fictional institute makes you curious for a few seconds, that already makes me happy. And if you want to support more experiments in this direction, you can always leave a small tip here.
🔗 Visit the project: iac.edu.kg