Modern can mean a quiet editorial website with generous space. It can also mean animated neon lettering arriving through a cloud of particles.
Both have received the invitation. They may be attending different parties.
The word is a reasonable starting point for a design conversation. To guide a custom website, it needs a little context: who the business serves, what it wants people to understand and which visual choices support that impression.
Anastasia Sycheva’s July 2026 article on turning brand strategy into visual direction highlights that gap between broad language and concrete design decisions.1 For a development team implementing a supplied brand direction, I would turn the conversation into a small, usable set of website principles.
Describe the impression in a real setting
Take a hypothetical engineering consultancy. Its sample direction is to feel current, capable and approachable to businesses commissioning complex work.
Those words still need interpretation. The useful question is what a prospective customer should notice and understand on the website.
Make capability visible through the content
Project descriptions, relevant expertise and a clear explanation of services can communicate competence. A decorative technical diagram may add atmosphere, but it should not be asked to stand in for evidence.
Choose the content that supports the impression, then give it appropriate prominence. If the business wants to be approachable, straightforward language and a comfortable inquiry route can contribute alongside the visual treatment.
A friendly typeface cannot personally return the phone call, but the page can make the next step understandable.
Use references to identify specific qualities
A reference website might have the desired image scale, a useful project hierarchy or an appropriate pace. Discuss those qualities separately.
Liking one detail does not mean adopting the entire site. A useful reference note explains what the team wants to learn from it and where the new business needs a different approach.
Also consider what would feel wrong for the intended audience. That helps establish useful boundaries without turning the discussion into a contest of personal taste.
See the brand and website we built for Tracy Nagle Immigration Law, from a standing start.
Translate the direction into repeatable choices
The developer needs decisions that can carry across pages, components and screen sizes. A strong first concept should begin to establish those relationships.
Typography and spacing set the reading rhythm
For the sample consultancy, a clear heading hierarchy and comfortable line lengths could support a composed, readable experience. Distinctive typography might add character without making long project descriptions tiring.
Define how the important levels relate: page title, section heading, supporting label and body copy. Use real content to check the system rather than assuming that every heading will be conveniently brief.
Spacing should help group related information and separate new ideas. Generous space can feel confident; so much space that the visitor loses the thread can feel like the website has briefly gone out for a walk.
Color, imagery and motion need useful roles
A restrained palette might suit the sample direction, with an accent used for key actions and selected emphasis. Check readable contrast in the actual combinations rather than treating the palette as a row of attractive swatches.
Photography should help explain the work. The choice between people, finished projects and process images affects what the site communicates about the business.
Motion can support a transition or add a little character. Define where it belongs, how it behaves with reduced-motion preferences and what the page does without it. “Modern” does not require every element to have an entrance routine.
Worth reading next: When a brand refresh should keep the familiar bits.
These choices can become shared theme settings and reusable component rules. Their implementation should preserve the approved direction while allowing the intended content updates.
| Its role | Check | |
|---|---|---|
| Typography | A clear hierarchy from page title to body copy | With real content, including long headings |
| Spacing | Groups related information and separates new ideas | That generous space never loses the thread |
| Colour | A restrained palette, with an accent for key actions | Contrast in the actual combinations |
| Imagery | Helps explain the work: people, projects or process | What it says about the business |
| Motion | Supports a transition or adds a little character | Reduced-motion preferences, and the page without it |
Review the direction on a page people could use
A moodboard can establish an atmosphere. A representative page shows whether that atmosphere survives contact with navigation, service copy, real images and an inquiry form.
Zulu Shack recommends reviewing a meaningful page or component set before extending the direction across the whole site. Include a smaller-screen view and enough real content to expose the important tradeoffs.
Ask reviewers to explain what impression the page creates and which details support it. If the feedback is still only “make it more modern,” return to the specific qualities rather than producing another collection of fashionable effects.
When a creative partner supplies the strategy or visual direction, keep that contribution clear. The implementation team’s task is to translate it thoughtfully into an accessible, maintainable website, with any necessary adjustments discussed together.
A useful brief leaves room for craft while giving everyone something concrete to work from. The result can have a personality that belongs to the business. Modern is welcome to join in. It just needs to tell us a little more about itself.