Product Design · 2026-03-14 · 7 min
Japanese and English do not occupy the same space. Designing for both first is cheaper than retrofitting either.
A layout tuned to English line lengths will break in Japanese, and a layout tuned to Japanese will look thin in English.
We set type separately for each language — different sizes, line heights and tracking — inside one shared structure, so neither version reads like a translation of the other.
The work is not translation. It is deciding what each audience needs to read first.
More notes
Software
A foundation is not a template. The difference is whether the data model can change.
Engineering
If a permission check lives in a component, it is a suggestion rather than a rule.
Studio Notes
Small is not a stage we are trying to leave. It is how the work stays good.
Tell us what you're trying to build, improve or solve. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right studio for it.