We still teach Helvetica. Here's why.

Every new designer at Ferrule spends a week setting one typeface. It’s the fastest way we know to learn restraint.

What we noticed

The pattern showed up long before we had a name for it. In almost every project the most useful moment came early, when someone outside the studio asked a plain question and we had to answer it without slides.

We started writing those answers down. Within a year they had become the way we open every project: one page, plain words, no jargon, signed by the people who will do the work.

What changed

Projects start faster and end calmer. Clients know who is doing what, and so do we. It isn’t a method, it’s a habit, and like most habits it only works if you keep doing it on the days you don’t feel like it.

If you’d like to see how it works on your own project, Pip can start the brief. Maya reads every one before 10:00 CET.