Professional design is not magic if you follow actual principles of design. It is repeatable choices that make your work feel intentional, clear, and trustworthy. And the stakes are real. People form an impression of a website’s visual appeal in about 50 milliseconds. In Stanford credibility research, “design look” was the most frequently mentioned factor when people judged whether a site felt credible. Meanwhile, the web is now primarily a mobile experience, with mobile slightly ahead of desktop worldwide in November 2025. So if your layouts, typography, spacing, and hierarchy are sloppy, you are not just “being creative.” You are