Nahom Kasa recently shared something that caught my attention: "Sometimes you’ve just got to show it off. Today I did, although it’s only my 5th day of UI/UX." He called it "The Image version of Ebisse luxury," and the confidence in that little "Ahem... Ahem..." felt like a designer stepping onto the stage before they think they are ready.

What makes Nahom’s post worth turning into a longer conversation is not just the fact that he designed a luxury-style website early in his UI/UX journey. It is that he articulated clear principles behind the look and feel, then connected those decisions to a real story: he built it for his sister’s business, on the last day of a challenge.

In other words, this was not random inspiration. It was intentional design.

"Sometimes you’ve just got to show it off... it’s only my 5th day of UI/UX. Here is what I designed."

Below, I want to expand on the five principles Nahom listed and translate them into a practical playbook you can use for any premium brand concept, especially if you are learning fast and shipping in public.

The real lesson: luxury is a system, not a filter

Luxury UI is often misunderstood as a coat of paint: add a serif font, increase spacing, and drop in editorial photography. Those elements can help, but what actually creates a luxury feel is consistency and restraint across a system.

Nahom’s post works because he named the system:

a typographic scale with a bold ratio
an intentionally broken grid
negative space treated as value
metadata that signals authenticity
a visual narrative from polished to process

If you are early in UI/UX, having explicit principles is a cheat code. It keeps you from over-designing.

Principle 1: The 1:10 typographic scale (bold contrast, calm reading)

Nahom wrote: "The 1:10 Typographic Scale: Using a massive difference between headlines and body text to create an immediate sense of luxury."

This is one of the fastest ways to communicate premium positioning. Luxury brands rarely shout everywhere. They whisper in the body text, then make deliberate, dramatic statements in headlines.

Why it works

Big headlines create confidence. You are telling the viewer: we do not need to cram information in.
Small body text slows the pace. It forces the reader to lean in, like reading a label or a lookbook caption.

How to apply it (without hurting usability)

Keep body text readable: line height, contrast, and font quality matter more when size is smaller.
Use fewer words in headings. Scale amplifies copy, so remove fluff.
Pair with generous spacing so the body text does not feel cramped.

Key insight: luxury typography is not just font choice. It is hierarchy discipline.

Principle 2: The broken 12-column grid (controlled asymmetry)

Nahom described a "Broken 12-Column Grid" that creates "intentional, rhythmic asymmetry" and even ties that movement to "a manual loom."

That connection is important. A broken grid is not chaos. It is choreography.

What a broken grid signals

Craft over automation: the layout feels composed, not templated.
Editorial credibility: like a magazine spread, it makes the page feel curated.

Practical ways to "break" a grid safely

Keep a baseline grid or spacing scale consistent even if columns shift.
Break one rule at a time: offset an image, then return to alignment in the next section.
Repeat a pattern (for example: left heavy, right light, then invert) to create rhythm.

If you break everything everywhere, the user feels lost. If you break the grid with repetition, the user feels style.

Principle 3: Negative space as value (breathing room equals confidence)

Nahom put it simply: "Negative Space as Value: Prioritizing 'breathing room' to ensure the craftsmanship of the garments remains the focal point."

This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of luxury design, especially for beginners. Many people treat empty space as wasted space. Luxury brands treat it like a frame around the product.

Why negative space reads as premium

It implies scarcity. Not everything is fighting for attention.
It increases perceived quality. The product gets a gallery-like presentation.
It improves comprehension. Users can scan with less cognitive load.

A quick checklist

Increase padding before adding decoration.
Limit the number of competing components per screen.
Use whitespace to guide the eye: headline, product, then supporting detail.

Key insight: in luxury UI, space is a design element, not leftover area.

Principle 4: Technical metadata (authenticity through specifics)

Nahom’s "Technical Metadata" idea stood out: "Using monospaced fonts and geographic coordinates to ground the brand in its authentic Ethiopian roots."

That is clever because it blends two worlds:

fashion and story
craft and traceability

Monospace typography often suggests engineering, documentation, or archival systems. When you use it in a fashion context, it creates contrast and credibility. Coordinates and location cues make the brand feel rooted, not generic.

How to use metadata without feeling gimmicky

Make it secondary, not dominant: captions, labels, product details, section markers.
Use real details: actual locations, materials, techniques, time-to-make.
Keep it consistent: one metadata style across the site (same font, size, separators).

For brands with cultural heritage, this approach can be a respectful way to say: we are from somewhere, and that somewhere matters.

Principle 5: Visual narrative (from editorial to atelier)

Nahom mentioned a "Visual Narrative" that transitions "from high-fashion editorial shots to the raw, manual process of the 'Atelier.'"

This is a conversion strategy disguised as storytelling.

Why the sequence matters

Editorial imagery sells aspiration.
Process imagery sells trust.

Many brands pick one and ignore the other. But luxury buyers often want both: the dream and the proof.

A simple narrative flow you can copy

Hero: the finished piece on a model (aspiration)
Detail: fabric texture, stitching, close-ups (quality)
Process: hands at work, tools, loom, workspace (authenticity)
Origin: place, people, heritage (meaning)
Call to action: inquiry, appointment, collection drop (purchase path)

Key insight: luxury is not only what the product looks like. It is how the story unfolds.

What I would add to Nahom’s playbook: ship fast, but anchor in principles

Nahom built this on a deadline, for a real person, during a challenge. That is exactly how you get better quickly.

If you want to replicate the progress curve, here is a lightweight method:

Pick 3-5 principles before you open Figma.
Build one screen that proves the principles.
Expand into a small system: typography, spacing, grid rules, image treatment.
Get feedback, then adjust only what violates the principles.

This is also a content strategy lesson. Posts go further when they include:

a human reason ("for my sister")
a constraint ("last day of a challenge")
specific techniques (a list of principles)
a confident reveal ("show it off")

That combination is why "LinkedIn content" about design can become memorable, even without huge early engagement.

Closing thought

Nahom ended with: "Anyway, let me see how many of you say 'Damn.'" I like the playful confidence, but the deeper flex is not the reaction. It is the clarity of intent after only a few days of practice.

If you are learning UI/UX, take that as permission to ship, explain your reasoning, and let your taste develop in public. Luxury design is not about expensive visuals. It is about disciplined decisions that make the work feel inevitable.

This blog post expands on a viral LinkedIn post by Nahom Kasa, 2nd Year Civil Engineering Student @ AAU | Full-stack Developer | Building Beams & Bits. View the original LinkedIn post →