Don’t make people relearn how to read your work.
Consistency isn’t about control. It’s about mercy.
When patterns repeat, people stop thinking about how something works and focus on what it’s saying. This is why design systems, brand guidelines, and templates exist — they stabilise decisions so attention can move elsewhere.
In interaction design, this is critical. A button should behave like a button everywhere. In communication design, the same principle applies: familiar structures reduce friction.
Inconsistency doesn’t feel creative. It feels tiring. Good design respects attention by not wasting it.