Design Systems
6 issues tagged with this topic.
Typography and color: how type weight changes the palette you need
Color and typography are not independent decisions. Type weight, size, and tracking interact with palette choices in ways that most design systems treat as separate concerns — but they are deeply entangled.
How to document a color palette so the next designer can use it
A palette that exists only in a Figma file is a palette that will be misused the moment the original designer leaves the project. Color documentation is the difference between a palette that lasts and one that drifts.
Dark mode is not just inverted light mode: the design decisions that make it work
Most dark mode implementations are design accidents — light mode with the lightness flipped. Real dark mode design requires different color relationships, different contrast strategies, and different handling of shadows and elevation.
Color naming systems: why the words you use for colors shape how teams use them
How you name a color changes how it gets used. Teams with semantic color names make different — and usually better — design decisions than teams using raw hex values or scale-position names like 'blue-500'.
Monochromatic palette strategy: getting the most out of a single hue
Monochromatic palettes are both harder and more rewarding than they appear. The constraint forces you to work with lightness and saturation as your primary tools — which is how many professional color systems actually work under the surface.
Designing color systems for mobile apps: constraints that change the rules
Mobile app color design operates under constraints that do not apply on desktop or web: smaller touch targets, varied ambient lighting, OLED displays that make pure black meaningful, and OS-level dark mode that must be handled systematically.