Core Principles
While the philosophy of Grain Design explains why the method works, the principles of Grain define how to apply it. These are the actionable tenets for anyone designing within constraint-first systems.
1. Begin With What Is
Don't start with what you wish you could do—start with what’s already real. Hardware specs, material limits, system architecture, or institutional constraints should shape the very bones of your design.
2. Derive Mechanics from Structure
Let the constraint suggest the rules of interaction. When you design mechanics that emerge logically from your system’s properties, the experience becomes more natural, resilient, and internally coherent.
3. Prioritize Emergence Over Imposition
Rather than scripting behavior or narrative, build conditions for meaningful outcomes to arise. Emergence is more engaging, more sustainable, and better aligned with complex systems.
4. Make Details Serve the System
Every component, visual or functional, should reinforce your system’s logic. Don’t add features that contradict your core mechanism. If something is beautiful but extraneous, strip it away or rework it so it aligns.
5. Story Follows Behavior
In Grain, the story is not what you tell—it’s what the player, user, or viewer discovers by interacting with the system. Build loops and feedback that encourage interpretation rather than prescription.
6. Scale with Integrity
Because Grain Design is systemic, it should scale cleanly. The same logic that works at one level should function at larger or smaller scales. Avoid bespoke fixes; refine the underlying rule instead.
7. Respect the Grain
When you fight constraint, you often waste energy and clarity. When you align with it, the design reveals itself. Working with the grain yields form, flow, and function.
These principles don’t restrict creativity—they channel it. They provide a generative framework to help you turn limits into systems, systems into meaning, and meaning into experience.