Survival workflow

This site is my design system in use. It is a press for my repository: writing, tools, applied theory and working proposals. I built it for slow connections, low vision, uneven browsers, tired readers and an exhausted me.

The design system is the page itself, under pressure. It lives in no separate brand document. HTML names the parts. The stylesheet gives the page measure, rhythm and contrast. A script appears only when a tool needs one. The aim is survival: thought should stay readable when mood, memory, network or tools fail.

The workflow§

SITE SURVIVAL WORKFLOW 1.1

AIM
keep thought readable
  when attention shifts
  when memory drops
  when the network fails

STACK
content     plain Markdown, one file a page
build       Zola, a static site generator
output      semantic HTML, one stylesheet

LAYERS
HTML        names the parts
stylesheet  gives rhythm
script      adds behaviour, tools only

MODEL
page        one public unit
article     one argument
section     one idea

PATTERN
title       one main title
anchor      one stable thought
list        related paths

SELECTORS
elements    default structure
ids         stable anchors
data-*      tool state

TYPE
voice       Zicopress English Serif
script      Zicopress Bangla Serif
signal      the system's own mono

COLOR
ink         reading
mute        support
accent      action

SPACING
small       inside a block
one         between blocks
large       before a heading
huge        before a part

ACCESS
large text
clear links
stable navigation

MAINTENANCE
tokens first
source readable
names stable

ETHIC
survival over spectacle
clarity over cleverness
human before machine

Reading the system§

I use it as a working tool for unlearning, critical pedagogy and design justice. It treats the website as infrastructure. The system asks one thing again and again: what does this page assume about the reader?

The answer shows in small decisions. A title has one job. A section carries one idea. A list connects related paths. An endnote keeps context aside. A glossary slows down private language.

The system also protects maintenance. Future tired me is a real user. Stable names, fewer moving parts and readable source are accessibility features too.

The type specimen sets every typographic feature on one page. The Markdown reference sets every element. The writing style guide holds the prose.

Working glossary§

Survival workflow

A way of publishing that keeps thought readable when attention, memory, network or tools fail.

Semantic HTML

Markup that names the meaning of each part before any styling begins.

Rhythm

The breathing of the page: measure, spacing, line height and repeated structure.

Low memory tax

A condition where the reader keeps moving without holding hidden instructions in working memory.

Future tired me

The maintainer who returns later with less energy, less memory and less patience for cleverness.