Design Principles

Five principles derived from the aiaiai studio manifesto. Every design decision should pass through these filters.

01

Warmth over sterility

Earth tones, aged paper, warm shadows. Never clinical white, never pure black. The screen should feel like a well-loved object, not a light source.

DO

Project title

Warm paper surface, warm text colors, subtle warm border.

Warm neutrals (#f7f5f3 surface, #2c2825 text)
DON'T

Project title

Clinical white, pure black text, cold gray border.

Pure white (#ffffff) and pure black (#000000)
02

Decisive color, not decorative

Orange means creation and focus. Red means destruction. Color carries meaning. If a color does not have a job, it does not appear.

DO
Orange = creation. Red = destruction. Each color has a job.
DON'T
Decorative colors with no semantic meaning.
03

Breathing space is information

Whitespace is not empty — it creates rhythm, hierarchy, and calm. Dense information is fine, but it needs room to breathe. Silence is as important as content.

DO

Section Title

Item one
Item two
Generous spacing creates visual hierarchy
DON'T

Section Title

Item one
Item two
Cramped layout with no room to breathe
04

Every animation earns its place

Motion serves orientation, feedback, or continuity. 150-300ms for UI transitions, longer for dramatic gestures. Never decorative motion.

DO

100ms color change on hover = instant feedback.

DON'T

800ms bouncy animation adds nothing but delay.

05

Precision typography

Monospace for data (numbers, code, time). Sans for interface. Display for brand moments. No font appears without a reason. Every character earns its place.

DO
BUILD TIME 2m 34s
DEPLOY 2026-02-20

Labels in mono, data in mono, prose in sans.

DON'T
Build Time 2m 34s
Deploy 2026-02-20

Everything in sans. Data and labels lose their structural clarity.