Constraints are a gift, not an obstacle

The briefs I turn down aren't the hard ones. They're the open ones — "do whatever you think is best," no budget ceiling, no launch date. Without a wall to push against there's nothing to push against, and the work drifts for weeks before it finds a shape.

A real constraint does the opposite. Three colors, one typeface, a launch date that can't move — every option that isn't survivable gets deleted before you've wasted a day on it. What's left is smaller, and it's almost always better than what six unconstrained weeks would have produced.

Give me a blank page and I'll stall. Give me a blank page and a deadline and I'll ship.