In this week’s issue, we’re diving into the kind of behind-the-scenes work that actually makes systems work—like layout governance, scalable token workflows, and the unsung art of typography tokens. We also explore how AI is helping (or sometimes complicating) system thinking.
Plus, we’re gearing up for next week’s Design System Leaders interview with Brad Frost—who drops this spicy take:
“‘Design systems’ is such an unfortunate name.”
Can’t wait? We’ve got interviews from Adobe, Atlassian, Volvo, and more to tide you over.
In this issue
📚 Featured Articles
📰 Published in the Last Week
🎙️Design System Leaders - Brad Frost
🎗️Support us
📝 Closing Thoughts
📚 Featured Articles
Must-read articles at www.designsystemscollective.com.
💡 Have an article to share? Submit it here!
👉 Why AI Can’t Save Your Design System If Your Tokens Are a Mess by Anastasiya Akulenko
Why We Like It: A timely exploration of token hygiene in the age of AI. It warns that sloppy naming and structure will trip up even the best tooling. Crucial reading for anyone integrating AI into their workflow.
Hot Take Alert: “If your design system is chaos—it won’t clean it up, it’ll just scale it.”
👉 Building Consistency Through Layout Documentation by Pennylane Design
Why We Like It: A hands-on case study tackling the often‑overlooked issue of layout inconsistency—even when tokens and components are solid. Reveals practical audit and governance strategies for designers building scalable systems.
Pro Tip: They performed a full “component + layout audit” and established ownership and governance to sustain consistency over time.
👉 What I Learned About Token Management While Letting AI Build My Design System by Yin‑Ling Mack
Why We Like It: A real‑world experiment using AI + Tailwind+React, debating centralised vs. modular token file structures. Rich implementation insight for teams wrestling with AI‑augmented DS workflows.
Don’t Miss: The section probing whether to manage tokens in one global file or alongside individual component code.
👉 How to Set Variables in Figma and Organize a Scalable Design System (with CDN + Git Workflow) by 昭夫 AKIO
Why We Like It: Offers a technical bridge between Figma variables and a Git‑powered deployment/CDN strategy. Niche, but powerful for design ops teams at scale.
Don’t Miss: The Git workflow section enabling versioned tokens.
📰 Published in the Last Week
To stay updated on the latest articles. We share every new article on our LinkedIn page.
👉 Building Consistency Through Layout Documentation by Pennylane Design
👉 Redesigning an Alert Component by Lara Cordoba Puerto
👉 The Variable Revolution: Transforming UI Consistency and Localization by Exchanging Static Labels… by Claus Nisslmüller
👉 Transitioning to Colour Tokens in Figma: A New Palette for Pennylane by Pennylane Design
👉 Composable Interfaces: Why the Future of UX Is Built in Blocks, Not Pages by Mageswari S
👉 AI Native Applications: A Capability Platform by Kevin Broich
👉 Build Faster, Design Smarter: Why Untitled UI Might Be the Best Figma UI Kit for Design Systems… by Shane P Williams
👉 How to Build a Design System from Scratch in Figma by Niamh Wordcast
👉 How Modular Design Systems are Reshaping Digital Product Development (And Why I’ll Soon Let You… by Claus Nisslmüller
👉 Typography in UX: Making Text Work for Your Users by Madhesh P
👉 Why AI Can’t Save Your Design System If Your Tokens Are a Mess by Anastasiya Akulenko
👉 When Liquid Glass Lost Its Shine, and Why That Matters by Ruben Cespedes
👉 Functional Thinking in React as a Systems Mindset by Tony M
👉 Mastering Typography Tokens: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide by Niamh Wordcast
👉 We Fixed Our Broken Color Tokens With 3 Simple Rules (You Can Too) by Mutasim Billah Toha
👉 AI-Powered Personalization: The Future of Dynamic User Interfaces by Madhesh P
👉 How to Set Variables in Figma and Organize a Scalable Design System (with CDN + Git Workflow) by 昭夫 AKIO
👉 From Chaos to Clarity: How I Migrated 2,700+ Tokens to 03 Themes in a Single Day (and… by Claus Nisslmüller
👉 Design Systems Start with Semantic HTML — Here’s Why It Matters More Than You Think by Rakesh Kumar
👉 Trying Out Figma Sites: What Worked and What Didn’t by İpek Karaoglu
👉 Meet if(): The New CSS Superpower You Didn’t Know You Needed by Victor Onyedikachi
👉 Creating Accessible Components That Actually Scale by Niamh Wordcast
🎙️ Design System Leaders
Next week, we’re thrilled to feature an interview with none other than Brad Frost, whose work has shaped how we think about design systems today.
“‘Design systems’ is such an unfortunate name, and that damn name continues to cause so much confusion across (even mature!) digital organizations.”
If you missed any of our previous interviews, you can catchup on them all here:
👉 Nate Baldwin on Modularity, Trust, and Breaking Design System “Rules” at Adobe
👉 Samantha “Sam I Am Designs” Gordashko on the Power of Design Tokens and Smarter Systems
👉 Lewis Healey on the Biggest Mistakes Teams Make When Scaling a Design System — And How Atlassian Avoids Them
👉 Design Systems Are About People, Not Just Components — A Conversation with Dan Donald
👉 Building Smarter Design Systems: A Conversation with Kirk McNeill of UI Collective
👉 Tiago Almeida on How Volvo’s Design System Drives Innovation and Consistency
🎗️ Support us:
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🌟 Featured Resource:
Untitled UI as a powerhouse Figma UI kit built with a systems‑first mindset—offering over 1,000 meticulously designed components (variants included), 10,000+ UI elements, global style variables, tooling for dark mode and accessibility, and even a matching React component library for developer handoff.Forward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribe
📝 Closing Thoughts
With contributions pouring in from around the globe, it’s clear the design systems community is thriving—and tackling challenges head-on. Whether you’re figuring out how to tame your tokens, wrangle layout inconsistencies, or just wondering if Figma variables and Git can finally get along, you’re not alone.
If you learned something this week, send the newsletter to a friend. And if you’ve got something to say (or ship), submit your own article—we’d love to feature your story.
Until next week 👋
Shane P Williams — Founding Editor
Design Systems Collective