Premium blog pages are rarely about doing more. They’re about removing friction. The design should get out of the way, while still feeling deliberate.
A reading experience that feels expensive
What this really means is: consistent typography, generous spacing, sharp borders, and motion that’s so subtle you only notice it when it’s missing.
“Design is the silent editor. If it’s loud, it’s usually insecure.”
Structure before styling
Start with content blocks you can swap to MDX later. That gives you a stable map for TOC generation, styling, and future enhancements.
A two-column layout that preserves focus and scan-ability.
Subtle motion wins trust
Keep it quiet. A gentle title blur and scale, a few pixels of cover parallax, and a reading progress bar. That’s enough to feel premium without feeling animated.
Key takeaways
- Use block-based content for easy MDX migration
- Keep motion under 10 to 15px and low blur
- Generate TOC from headings, not from hardcoded markup
- Prioritize legibility and rhythm over decoration
If you nail the rhythm, the page feels inevitable. Like it was always supposed to look that way.
// Small example: using headings blocks to build a TOC
const toc = content
.filter(b => b.type === "heading")
.map(b => ({ id: b.id, text: b.text, level: b.level }));