Creating and Organizing Design Tokens

Key Concepts

• Design Tokens: The foundational elements of your design system, representing values like colors, typography, spacing, and shadows.
• Token Organization: Structuring design tokens in a way that makes them easy to manage and reuse across different components and platforms.
• Token Naming Conventions: Establishing a consistent naming system to ensure clarity and ease of use.
• Token Storage: Storing design tokens in a centralized location to ensure consistency and easy updates.

Design Tokens

Design Tokens are the building blocks of your design system. They represent specific values such as colors, typography, spacing, and shadows. These tokens are stored as variables and can be reused across different components and platforms to ensure consistency.

For example, you might create a color token named $primary-color with the value #0070f3. This token can then be applied to buttons, text, and backgrounds throughout your design system.

Token Organization

Organizing design tokens effectively is crucial for maintaining a scalable and manageable design system. Use categories and subcategories to group related tokens. For instance, you might have a category for colors, with subcategories for primary, secondary, and accent colors.

Consider organizing tokens as if you were setting up a library. Each category is a shelf, and each subcategory is a section on that shelf. This hierarchical structure ensures that all related tokens are grouped together, making it easier to find and manage them.

Token Naming Conventions

Adopting a consistent naming convention for your tokens is essential for maintaining order. Use descriptive and concise names that reflect the content of the token. For example, instead of naming a token "Color1," you could name it "PrimaryButtonColor."

Think of naming conventions as labeling your library books. Clear and consistent labels make it easy to find and understand each book's content, just as clear token names make it easy to understand and use each token in your design system.

Token Storage

Storing design tokens in a centralized location ensures consistency and ease of updates. In Figma, you can create a dedicated file or page for your design tokens. This central repository allows you to update tokens in one place, and the changes will automatically apply across all components that use those tokens.

Consider token storage as a central warehouse for your design system's building blocks. Just as a warehouse stores all the materials needed for construction, a centralized token storage ensures that all design elements are consistent and easily accessible for updates.