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2026-06-28·June Park·6 min
Designing with constraints, on purpose
Every strong interface we have shipped started with a constraint we refused to negotiate away. Here is how we pick them.
Constraints are not the enemy of good design. They are the only reliable way to make a hundred small decisions coherent with each other. A palette of four colors forces hierarchy; a single display font forces rhythm.
On Inkwell we hold three constraints fixed: one measure for body text, one accent per surface, and no decoration that does not encode meaning. Everything else is allowed to move.
The result is not austerity. It is that rare feeling of a page where nothing competes with the words.