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Designing a site that stays fast
A fast website is a design decision, not a developer task. Here are the rules we follow on every site we build.
Arjun Mehta
Design lead
Speed is not a developer problem added at the end. It is decided in the first layout.
Images earn their place
Every image on a page has a job. If it has no job, it goes. The ones that stay are sized to the space they fill.
The fastest image on the page is the one you decided not to load.
Motion with restraint
One signature interaction per page beats ten small tricks. It is easier to load and easier to remember.
Our sites score green on mobile tests, and our clients can still edit every word themselves.
Work in progress from the studio wall.
Measure on a cheap phone
We test every page on a three-year-old phone on a slow connection. If it feels heavy there, it is heavy, whatever the laptop says.
Stage | What we do | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
Learn | Interviews, an audit and a one-page written brief | 1 week |
Explore | Three directions on paper, one chosen together | 2 weeks |
Build | The full system, tested on real material | 3 weeks |
Key takeaway
Every image needs a job, and every animation needs a reason.
Websites · Performance · Craft
Written by
Arjun Mehta
Arjun runs the design team day to day and keeps every system honest, from the logo grid to the last social template.
