When you’re starting out as a designer or developer, it feels like the dream is limitless freedom. Infinite colors, endless layouts, endless libraries, no rules — just raw creativity. But here’s the paradox I’ve learned over the years: too much freedom often kills creativity.

The truth is, constraints are what make the best ideas possible.

Think about it. If you only had three colors to work with, you’d suddenly think more carefully about contrast, hierarchy, and consistency. If you’re building a landing page and you limit yourself to one typeface, you’ll explore weight, scale, and spacing in ways you might never try if you had an endless font library at your disposal.

As a developer, the same principle applies. When you’re forced to optimize for performance — say you want a site that loads under 2 seconds — you have to make trade-offs. Those trade-offs push you to write cleaner code, lean on smarter animations, and avoid unnecessary complexity.

Some of my favorite projects came from moments where I couldn’t do everything I wanted. I had to find a clever workaround, or simplify an idea until it was doable. And almost every time, the end result was stronger than the version where I had unlimited options.

Constraints don’t just make the work better — they make it more fun. It’s like solving a puzzle. Instead of staring at a blank canvas and feeling overwhelmed, you’re working inside a frame. That frame forces you to be inventive.

This is why I often set artificial constraints on personal projects. One layout, one typeface, one main color, one week to build. Sometimes I’ll even try to design without images, or code without relying on heavy libraries. It feels restrictive at first, but it always sparks new approaches.

So next time you feel stuck or uninspired, try adding a constraint instead of removing one. Limit your palette. Restrict your tools. Impose a deadline.

Because creativity isn’t about having infinite options — it’s about finding magic within the limits.