(It’s Never a Straight Line)
Design needs boundaries. It does its best work when there’s something to push against. Whether it’s the tension between function and beauty, message and medium, or simplicity and personality. Constraints aren’t roadblocks; they’re what give design its shape. They create the framework that ideas grow inside of.
Total freedom? That’s just noise. Design doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. It needs friction to clarify the idea, a deadline to keep it honest, and a brand system to keep the wild stuff tethered. It’s always asking: What are the rules? Not to follow them blindly, but to know which ones are worth breaking.
Here’s the quiet truth: limitations aren’t the enemy. They’re fuel. Good design doesn’t usually come from having endless options. It comes from working inside the tension with curiosity, intention, and a healthy dose of rebellion.
Design is messy. It loops around, gets tangled, and changes direction halfway through. Clients shift priorities, feedback rewrites the plan, and sometimes the best idea shows up late to the party. That’s not a flaw. It’s how the process works. It’s not linear because it’s alive. It listens, adapts, and evolves in real time.
So yeah, design is kinky. Not that kind of kinky—but like a good knot. It holds together because there’s pressure. Like a bold idea, it finds its shape by being pulled in more than one direction.