Principles

01. Aesthetic Direction

Minimal

Clean

Square

Focused

Use generous space, hard edges, and restrained color to focus attention where it matters.

02. Voice & Tone

Clear

Concise

Direct

Candid

Say what matters in the fewest useful words, without hiding the point or sanding off the human edge.

03. Exceptions

Soft
Edges

Buried
Treasure

Earned
Payoffs

Self
Aware

The system is serious, but self-aware enough not to become self-important.

Hard edges lead; soft shapes punctuate the system.

Pop-culture asides, snark, and the occasional hidden link are allowed when they earn the interruption.

For example, non-critical copy can walk the line between seriousness and irony in roughly the same way The Darkness does in I Believe in a Thing Called Love: fully committed, technically competent, and aware of its own theater.