Design systems are more than component libraries. They’re the shared language between design and engineering that enables teams to move fast without breaking things.
The Problem with Ad-Hoc Design
Every product starts simple. A few screens, a handful of components, one designer who knows where everything lives. Then growth happens. New features, new team members, new platforms. Suddenly you’re maintaining three slightly different button styles and nobody remembers which one is “correct.”
This is the moment most teams realize they need a system.
Our Approach
We build design systems in layers:
1. Foundation
Tokens come first. Colors, typography, spacing, shadows—the atomic decisions that everything else builds upon. We define these as CSS custom properties and expose them through both design tools (Figma variables) and code.
2. Components
With tokens in place, components become compositions rather than inventions. A button isn’t “blue with 16px padding”—it’s bg-accent, px-4, py-2. The language is shared.
3. Patterns
Components combine into patterns. A form field isn’t just an input—it’s a label, an input, helper text, and error states working together. Patterns encode best practices.
4. Documentation
A system without documentation is just a codebase. We document everything: when to use each component, accessibility requirements, edge cases. The goal is enabling autonomy.
The Investment Pays Off
Design systems require upfront investment. But the return compounds over time. Features ship faster. Consistency improves. Onboarding accelerates. The system becomes a multiplier.
Start small. Document as you go. Iterate based on real usage. That’s how systems scale.