I start every layout with a marker that is too thick to draw details. It forces the question that matters: what is the biggest thing on this page?

Three passes

  1. Boxes only: what goes where.
  2. Type sizes: what reads first.
  3. Colour last: what the inks are for.
Fig. 2 — The third pass, before colour

From paper to tokens

Once the page works on paper, every decision becomes a token: sizes, spacing, the two inks. The system is just the sketch, written down.