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by ad404b8a372f2b9 1273 days ago
One of the revelations I've had while designing my latest website was that design is much more like programming than I previously thought.

I used to think that designers started from a blank page and came up with everything magically through their sense of taste. But since I started using Penpot (a Figma like open source design tool) I realized the process is entirely different, you have a bunch of pre-defined variables which you use everywhere and it's through consistency that you achieve beautiful designs.

For example, you pre-define your typography (4 to 5 font-sizes/weights/line-height combinations, ...), you pre-define your color palette (3 or 4 main colours with a couple of shades for each), you define your grid sizing with a variable "x" which will control white-space. Once you define all these elements it all comes together easily, you apply them depending on the role of each element and the consistency of always using the same stylistic components and spacing makes the site beautiful.

This is my advice as someone who used to be terrible and thought I had no artistic bone in my body. It won't make you as great as a pro but it does make everything easier, and it makes things make sense.