I've designed hundreds of templates and planners, and I keep seeing the same mistakes:

1. Too many fonts. Stick to 2 max. One for headers, one for body. That's it.

2. Ignoring whitespace. Cramming everything together makes it look cheap. Give elements room to breathe.

3. Random color palettes. Pick 3-4 colors that actually work together. Use coolors.co if you need help.

4. Overcomplicating planners. The best planner is one you'll actually use. If it has 47 sections, you won't.

5. Not making it editable. Templates should adapt to the user, not the other way around.

I built PrettyFileEdit around these principles — clean, minimal, actually usable templates and planners for people who care about how their work looks.

Check out the Starter Pack or the Bridal Collection if you're tired of generic templates.