Faced with these requirements, we could have said, “Let’s use a gradient instead.” Or better—just white. But would a gradient make you want to open your inbox? Would a white background give you that feeling of outside air inside the app ?

It’s tempting to build functionality and sprinkle “design” on top. But when you have a visual north star from

We solved the engineering for our painted-sky backgrounds. More importantly, we discovered something: Art direction is product architecture. It makes trade-offs clearer, keeps the experience coherent, and gives people a reason to choose your product in a world where AI can generate the median in seconds.