Before I touch a text editor, I spend time just thinking.
Not planning.
Not wireframing in some fancy tool.
Just — thinking about the people who are going to use this thing.
It starts with context.
Every project starts the same way.
Who is this for?
What do they do?
What kind of person is going to land on this website?
Take a school website.
The visitors aren't random.
It's parents deciding where to enrol their child.
It's teachers checking if this place is worth their career.
It's students looking for something they can be proud of.
That shapes everything before I draw a single box.
Then I look at what already exists.
I search for other school websites.
And honestly?
Most of them are bad.
Like, genuinely bad.
Outdated layouts, clashing colors, navigation that makes no sense.
It's almost comforting — the bar isn't that high.
But I still look.
Because even bad design teaches you something.
It shows you what people in that space expect.
It shows you what patterns feel familiar.
It teaches you what you can break and what you probably shouldn't.
Then I go to Dribbble.
Then I go to Pinterest.
I look for things that make me stop scrolling.
The color problem
I used to think picking colors was just a vibe thing.
You pick what looks nice.
Done.
Then I did a little research into color theory and it kind of broke my brain.
Color isn't decoration.
It's communication.
Before a visitor reads a single word, color has already sent a signal to their brain.
BlueTrust · Reliability · Calm Blue is one of the most commonly used colors in business. It feels stable. Dependable. That's why banks use it. Tech companies. Healthcare. A dark navy says authority and expertise. A lighter shade says approachable and calm.
WhiteSimplicity · Clarity · Breathing room White creates space. It lets everything else breathe. Paired with blue it says: professional, clean, nothing to hide.
RedEnergy · Urgency · Action Red is impossible to ignore. It says: look here. Now. That's why every sale banner is red. Every CTA button someone really wants you to click.
GreenGrowth · Health · Nature Green says we care — about the earth, your health, or both. Darker greens push into wealth and stability. It's a color that never really feels wrong.
BlackLuxury · Power · Sophistication Black is bold. Timeless. It says premium without saying a word. Pair it with gold and you're not even competing anymore — you're in a different category.
YellowOptimism · Warmth · Attention Yellow is cheerful and loud. It attracts attention naturally. But it's intense — best used as an accent, not a foundation. Too much yellow and the whole thing starts to feel like a warning sign.
Why combinations matter more than single colors
Colors don't work alone.
The real magic — and the real danger — is in combinations.
Blue + White → trust, professionalism, nothing to hide
Black + Gold → luxury, exclusivity, we charge more and it's worth it
Green + White → health, sustainability, freshness
Red + Black → power, energy, we're not here to be subtle
Purple + Gold → creativity, luxury, sophistication
Knowing this changed how I see everything.
Billboards.
App icons.
Product packaging.
Once you know, you can't un-know.
Pages and structure
After color, I think about pages.
How many does this client actually need?
What is each page's one job?
A homepage doesn't just introduce the school.
It answers one question — is this place worth my time?
And it has to do it in about 8 seconds.
Then I ask: is this website static, or will the content change?
Does the school need to post announcements?
Update the events calendar?
Add new faculty?
If yes, that changes the entire architecture of what I build.
Which pages are needed?
Where does each piece of information live?
And how do you format it — because no one reads blocks of paragraphs anymore.
Unless it entertains them.
Information needs to be scannable.
Short paragraphs.
Bold phrases.
Things someone can skim and still walk away understanding.
Then I open VS Code
Only after all of this.
And even then — the design isn't finished.
It never really is.
There's a quote I keep coming back to:
"Design is the profession where everyone in the company thinks they are a designer." — Zander Whitehurst
Revisions will come.
Feedback will come.
Something will look right in Figma and completely wrong in the browser.
A client will say they love something and change their mind three days later.
That's just how it goes.
The process doesn't end at launch.
It just changes shape.