The first week of any studio project is rarely about the final look. It is about setting limits, testing tools and deciding what not to do. When we started the identity work for a small regional publisher, the brief was open enough to feel dangerous: "give us something that feels like us, but better." That kind of freedom sounds generous until you sit with it on day two.

We began by listing constraints instead of ideas. The publisher prints on uncoated stock, so any colour we chose had to survive a rough paper surface. The team of three had no dedicated art director, which meant the system had to be simple enough for a non-designer to apply without breaking it. And the catalogue had to work in two languages, one of which runs much longer when translated. These three limits shaped more decisions than any mood board did.

By midweek we had settled on a single typeface family and a narrow palette: black ink, off-white paper and one muted ochre for highlights. The ochre came from a reference photo of the publisher's warehouse floor, a detail that gave the whole system a quiet local anchor. We sketched three layout grids on paper before touching a screen, and the one that survived was the least clever of the three. It simply left more room for the photography to breathe.

The real lesson of that week was about saying no early. We dropped a decorative cover concept on Thursday because it would have required a second spot colour and a longer print run. We cut a proposed icon set because the publisher's team would have had to maintain it. What remained was a system that felt modest at first glance but held up under real content. That is the tradeoff worth making: less decoration, more room for the work itself.

If you are starting a similar project, give yourself permission to work with fewer options. Pick one typeface, two colours and a grid you can explain in a sentence. The first week should feel like narrowing, not expanding. The finished identity will thank you later.

See how we structure identity projects · More notes from the studio