Welcome to the Internet’s least visited alternative thoughts on wellness and nutrition. The next Book revision is now shareable and downloadable. If you are new to this space please acquaint yourselves by Starting Here.
What’s new (V1.751) / July-August 2019
I hereby present an overhaul for the entire book’s grid system. More than eighty (80) hours of work around the clock almost constantly; amidst adhering every-day structural and hourly – survival for optimism.
So why have I decided to revamp this grid system? Here are five reasons (first as visuals then other more meaningful updates).
1/5 A much needed breathing room.
As an aspiring Author it can be at times so easy to get entrenched in one’s own writing. How it reads and sets out on the page. How it looks. Seeing the same paragraph over and over (whilst refining it nearly ad libitum) easily convinces anyone that on this day onwards, this is “final”. Yet I fell to my own misperfection and embarrasment. Nothing is final until it’s discovered too late.
I shall let readers dictate which of the two renditions below suggests the more comfortable reading.
It is so important as designers, to develop “a third eye”. This can only be done by taking a break. Visually consume something else. Then revisit/looking back.
I fell victim for not realising the lack of air inbetween typography. Hence, enforcing me to go back to the drawing board and relay the foundations, again. This time using Jan Tschichold’s classic symmetrical grid, sticking to the 9×9 column grid whilst retaining Blurb.com® Tradebook size (203.2 x 127mm).
The aim for any successful book grid systems I believe, is effortless typographic expression. This however, required intense scrutiny on overall grid systems, paragraph justifications, hyphenations, to name a few. All that – before the re-coordination of everything else – the movement of graphics, supporting elements, etc – may even begin.
If anyone think they can design a book better. I long to see their facial expression one day when they’re asked to also write one, as well. And keep their smiles whenever Indesign® crashes.
2/4
New inline tables – to encourage presence, ingestion and recognition.
With new “air” surrounding each page, so too must changes reflect surrounding elements. This imposed hours of displeasure tabulating complex information. As far as I know, as former designer spent amidst unpaid Friday nights overtime there are so far only three ways I am aware of on presenting these somewhat “nicely”.
One – “spread it out” like a designer method, “prettify” everything with spacers, icons, split into page after page after page. Two – jam it all into one page, make that walls of text. Or three: make it all part of the body content structure as inline tables insertions.
First is likely the most utopianist. Because I clearly do not have all the luxury of time there is searching for perfect icons to “borrow” then to coordinate them all out manually. Not to mention the more lengthy the information, the more easy for readers to lose track of what was being implored amidst the main passage.
Second is most industrial looking. The problem with this is most readers may likely ignore it. Because if all they can see at first sight is a wall of text, they won’t read it.
Hence, the solution? Third and last option. Force it in as part of the body paragraphing content. Do NOT over-design it or prettify it. This at least; shows that the chart’s presence is more integrated, rather exclusively apart from each other.
Beware however that this methodology has NOT yet been manually redesigned across ALL charts. Simply because there are so many tables so complicated and dense – they cannot simply be broken apart into multiple smaller tables.
3/4
Inline tables = ease of management for future content re-movement/s
Having inline tables also helps during times whereby content shuffling around are anticipated. No longer do I have to manually re-move the featured charts and tables on separate pages next to their relative paragraph. Note to all designer geeks: please don’t lecture me how to use “Anchored Objects”. A blessing for sure for small group of objects, yet useless nightmare on anything requiring bigger coverage than 1/2 of page.
A new colour scheme has been manually set across these inline tables and charts. Icons have been added to visually distinguish what is what. But nothing too prettified.
CONS / DISADVANTAGE OF THIS UPDATE
A myth sadly perpetuates just because anything is “refined”, everyone expects everything else to stay at-least contained as they are.
Sadly, not the case. “Wars and Realisations” Chapter has to be removed.
With the new grid system in place, sadly I have to make a very tough omission. The reason for this is simply because as it currently stands, this Book is weighing 220+ pages. Something has to be sacrificed.
As much as I dearly wanted it to contain everything, I still have to accept it is an increasingly impossible task to both write and design a book that’s simultaneously philosophical, approachable, pragmatic yet also scientifically-deep. All at the same time.
Hence, this last chapter on (very important) philosophical debate will be written out as a separate blog article. Stay tuned as to where and how it will complete!
Other additional (listing) periodical refinements.
- The special “journey timeline” section has been revised. This time, readers will be presented with a short guide on how to interpret and make their way through the chart somewhat easier. I hope this presents an accessibility improvement.
- The pursuit to refine my writing continues. Considerably 60-70% of the text content now revised. To synergize visually with the new grid system. More “Active Voices” (intead of meandering passive voice/s); in this update and likely for the next consecutive version/s.
- I’ve updated the listing of retailers / food grocer sources with more recommendations; this time surrounding needs of scouting for short-dated-goods or “reduced to clear/s”.
- I’ve added few new passages on how to best approach short dated goods. What is pragmatically safe and what is not. Beware however these are highly generalised and may not constitute sound advice to all physiologies, metabolism and digestion efficacies.
- Intermittent Fasting table new section. I have added few new sections to the table of intermittent fasting overview to acquaint for new readers what to expect; as well as disclosing the various types of fasting/s available and known today.
- More worries on Carageenan under Additives / Preservatives inline table. Unfortunately, more bad news than what I anticipated.
Viewership is much appreciated.
This Book & Project, expects no charitable donations $$$ or likes. I implore all to witness the Live-It-Forward gratuity model.
Once again, this isn’t a Book about indulgence Recipes. It is instead, a recipe for critical thinking for affirmed & individualised stance for Nutritional Science. Authentic Subsistence, before Indulgence.
<end of changes>.
Prior versions.
I honestly declare my opinion that reading prior versions is not recommended. Because their readability remains unrefined compared to the latest versioning. The following (previous) blog announcements nonetheless represented all revision trail/s as history. From earliest to this very present versioning thus far.
- Version 1.75x June 2019.
- Version 1.7 January – March 2019.
- Version 1.6 – May – August 2018
- Version 1.5 January – April 2018
- Version 1.4 April – August 2017.
- Version 1.3 August – December 2016.
- Version 1.2 April – June 2016.
- Version 1.0 / initial print test release.
Free as Air – for all sharing, viewing and reviewing.
Peace is Contextual Sufficiency. Violence is Contextual Insufficiency.
Andrew Wiguna / AW™ / andrewwiguna.com.