Structure is the silent argument

The hierarchy of a page is the hierarchy of its ideas. Get that right and the type does its job by accident.

Before I touch font weights or spacing, I write the page out in plain HTML — just headings, paragraphs and links — and read it back like a document. If it makes sense as a document, it'll make sense as a design.

A small ritual

Strip the CSS. Read the page. If it still tells the story, the structure is sound. If it doesn't, you're about to spend a week pushing pixels around a problem styling can't solve.