Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast: Why Rushing Doesn’t Cut It in Design

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably found yourself staring at a blank canvas, real or digital, waiting for a bolt of inspiration or, more likely, a client’s looming deadline to force your hand. In those moments, the temptation to fly through the process and tick another task off the ever-growing to-do list is strong. I know because I’ve been there more times than I care to count.

But early in my career (and, if I’m honest, through more than one embarrassing classroom demonstration), I came to realise that blazing through design doesn’t do anyone any favours. Not my students, not my clients, and certainly not me. There’s a saying I pinched from an old military maxim: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” Funny where you find the best advice, isn’t it? It’s stuck with me. That approach sits at the heart of how I work today, whether I'm laying out a website or scratching out a poster on the back of an envelope.

You see, there’s real magic in slowing down. When you work at a deliberate pace, everything actually goes faster in the end. I’ll show you why.

Why This Matters

The chaotic rush to get things “done” is one of the great unspoken stressors in web and graphic design. You’ve got a dozen browser tabs open, messages pinging, and maybe a caffeine deficiency that only art students and freelancers truly understand. The default response is often to push ahead, pile things high, and keep moving so you don’t fall behind.

The appeal of speed is obvious. We’re pressed for time and want results as quickly as possible. But here’s the main issue: rushing hardly ever delivers the result you actually want. The more you hurry, the more likely you are to miss key details or fudge the important bits. In web and graphic design, those details are not just nice-to-haves. They are the backbone of good communication. Miss them, and you’ve created more work for your future self (or, worse, an unhappy client who doesn’t hesitate to grumble).

I remember a time, back when I was more impressed with speed than substance, when I’d barrel through a website build and end up spending far longer fixing clumsy layouts, forgotten calls to action, or text the client didn’t want in the first place. These mistakes weren’t minor; they created serious friction in the process, costing me time, credibility, and the occasional night’s sleep.

This matters because the design process isn’t a sprint. It resembles assembling flat-pack furniture: if you skip the instructions and start hammering things together, you probably won’t enjoy the result.

Common Pitfalls

I’ve seen it with beginners and seasoned pros alike (my past self very much included): rushing leads you straight into a handful of classic traps.

Trying to impress with speed, not results

Back in my early teaching days, I used to set a cracking pace during demonstrations. I’d rattle through a Canva layout or a PowerPoint design in no time, thinking it would inspire my students. All it achieved was confusion, magazine-quality typos, and the realisation that nobody was following along. Speed for the sake of speed is simply showing off.

Skipping the planning phase

There’s a temptation to launch straight into the software, piling ideas onto the screen and seeing what sticks. The problem with this approach is that projects quickly veer off track and turn into a pixel-pushing grind.

Endless tweaking

When you start without a plan, you’ll likely spend hours in the swamp of tiny adjustments. Shifting elements, changing colours, reworking headlines because you never slowed down to think what mattered most.

Overcomplicating with tools too early

Many of us have felt paralysed by the sheer number of options in modern design software. The result is a sort of creative paralysis, or worse, wasted hours trying to remember which layer does what.

Going solo until it’s too late

Working in isolation, showing rough drafts to no one, only to unveil a “finished” piece that unfortunately misses the client’s core message.

If any of these sound familiar, don’t worry. You can change how you work, and the solution is simple.

Step-by-Step Fix

1. Schedule Time to Slow Down

Let’s start with the most unsexy solution: you have to make yourself slow down, deliberately. Book a chunk of time for nothing but staring at the ceiling (or better, a blank notepad). This means saying no to the temptation to open Canva, Photoshop, or whatever shiny tool is on your desktop.

I make it a point to sketch my ideas first. No fancy templates or mock-ups—just rough, barely-legible scribbles. The aim here is wiring your brain for clarity and intention, not perfection.

2. Map the Essentials Before You Touch the Tools

Before I open any software, I ask myself: What is this design meant to do? Who’s going to see it? What are the three absolutely critical details it must communicate?

Whether it’s a simple poster or a 20-page website, knowing your hierarchy in advance is extremely helpful. For example, if I’m creating a flyer for a local event, the title, date, and contact details must be included. Everything else is secondary.

This planning doesn’t need to be precious. Sticky notes, whiteboards, the back of your hand—whatever works for you.

3. Keep the Initial Tools Stupidly Simple

There is absolutely no medal awarded for using the most complicated software from the beginning. In fact, trying to do so nearly always backfires. I’ve seen designers lose hours trying to wrangle wayward selections in Photoshop or getting lost in the layers panel, when a good old pencil and paper sketch or a plain rectangle in Canva would do the trick.

When I mentor students or consult with small businesses, my first instruction is to embrace the basics. Plain layouts, monochrome blocks; no gradients, no shadows, no special effects.

4. Show Early, Show Ugly

Here’s one that can feel uncomfortable, but it’ll save you a world of pain: show your rough ideas early. Yes, even those wonky sketches you’d rather hide. It’s better to face awkward feedback with a rough draft than waste energy polishing something no one wants.

I’ve built this into every project now. Whether it’s for a client or a classroom, the rough draft gets shared at the earliest sensible point. Almost every time, I catch a critical tweak or piece of feedback at this stage, long before it becomes a drama.

5. Plan for One Round of Revisions Only

Endless tweaks can sap the joy from any design process. After the rough version goes out and feedback comes back, I build in just one planned round of revisions. That’s it. No infinite loops, no back-and-forth until exhaustion sets in.

The discipline here is in trusting your process and making it clear up front that perfection isn’t the goal; aim for clarity and effectiveness.

6. Take Notes for the Next Project

This step focuses on your ongoing improvement. After every completed job, especially the ones that felt painfully slow or messy, I spend five minutes jotting down what worked, what drove me mad, and how I’ll tackle it next time.

I’ve built up a private playbook over the years this way. It’s surprisingly satisfying to look back at those notes, spot how many hiccups were avoided the second (or third) time round, and see genuine progress.

What Most People Miss

Most people overlook a crucial point: slowing down at the start allows you creative freedom later on. Take the time to plan and you can actually shift into “autopilot” when building out your designs, knowing that the big decisions are already made.

Too many designers see rough work or basic sketches as wasted time, but the opposite is true. Every minute you spend thinking before making is an investment. I’ve seen entire projects go sideways because the team skipped out on a rough wireframe, only to discover halfway through that the page hierarchy was upside down or the call to action was buried.

Be careful not to confuse deliberate pacing with perfectionism. This isn’t an excuse for procrastination. It’s about moving at a deliberate, thoughtful pace with a clear end in mind. The “smooth” part in the phrase is not just poetic; it refers to a process that is straightforward and efficient.

The Bigger Picture

Apply this approach consistently and you will see your projects run more smoothly. The benefits accumulate with every job you tackle. You’ll spend far less time fixing preventable messes, and gain real momentum and quiet confidence project after project.

Clients and collaborators will notice. You become known as “the designer who doesn’t miss details,” the one who ships work on time without endless amends, the team member who isn’t constantly dealing with small dramas because the brief was checked carefully.

This approach frees you up, both mentally and practically, to experiment, push creative boundaries, and actually enjoy the process. It works on any scale. I’ve built websites for one-person shops and national businesses by following the same philosophy. There’s a reason design agencies that last are so focussed on process: it saves time, money, and reputation.

An added bonus is the ability to reclaim your evenings. When you’re not spending your nights fixing things that could have been sorted with ten minutes of mindful planning, your evenings become your own again. Committing to a slower start is a worthwhile exchange for less stress and more creative freedom.

Wrap-Up

Rushing through design isn’t a badge of honour; it almost always leads to headaches and last-minute fixes. If you want smoother projects, happier clients, and a little less stress in your working week, slow down at the start, front-load your effort, and don’t shy away from ugly first drafts.

Trust me, your future self (and your clients) will thank you. You might even rediscover the joy in the work itself.

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.

Elwyn Davies
Designer, teacher, and strong believer in slowing down
Pixelhaze Academy

About the Author

Elwyn Davies is a seasoned designer, front-end developer, and multi-hat-wearer who has helped everyone from solo startups to heavyweight organisations since dial-up was the norm. As chief generalist and accidental teacher at Pixelhaze Academy, he works to make design less intimidating and more accessible for the next wave of creative talent. If he’s not sketching out a plan on the back of a receipt, you’ll find him cheering on Wales with a strong brew in hand.

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• Pixelhaze Academy’s New Web Design 101 Guides – Available for Free!
• Graphic Design & Art: Two Worlds Collide
• The Pixelhaze Principles of Design

Share your thoughts below: gripes, questions, or stories of design projects that went off the rails because of a rush are all welcome.

Cheers!