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Designing with constraints

Working under tight constraints — a limited palette, a fixed type system, a rigid grid — often yields a stronger identity than absolute freedom ever does.

Why constraint helps

When every decision is anchored in a system, the eye finds landmarks from screen to screen. Readers stop wondering how the site works and engage with the content directly.

This very exercise illustrates the point: two colors, one typeface family, a single spacing rhythm. Anything that falls outside the system is set aside, deliberately.

What it changes for the writer

A tighter palette also frees the author from second-guessing every styling decision. Once the system is settled, focus shifts to the only thing that actually matters here: the words.