Designing with constraints
Every project has limits: time, budget, tools, the words you’re given. It’s tempting to see them as obstacles. More often, they are the brief.
When I build a small site, I start by writing down what I won’t do. No carousel. One typeface. Every page under 100 KB. Those rules make a hundred decisions for me, so I can spend my attention on the few that matter.
“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”
If you want to try this, pick one constraint for your next project and write it at the top of your notes. Then read the slow web essay for a few more ideas.