The five best design links, every weekday

Category: Design Systems

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cacm.acm.org

An algorithm for a better bookshelf

Drop in at a library, and you’ll likely notice that most shelves aren’t full—librarians leave some empty space on each shelf.

kurppahosk.com

Case study: Nike design system co-creation

The design system that would one day become the Nike Podium Design System.

smoothui.dev

SmoothUI

A collection of great test components with smooth animations.

arielsalminen.com

Introducing brands for Nord Design System

Unifying two design system platforms into a single one that can serve all of the feature teams.

blog.damato.design

Done with components

Component libraries aren’t design systems until people start caring.

namedesigntokens.guide

Design tokens name generator

Generate and manage design tokens for your design system.

bencallahan.com

Bias in design systems

Discipline bias, product bias, tool bias, and more.

bit.ly

Design tokens go native—only in PenpotSponsored

Enjoy advanced features like string & numeric tokens, math operations, and more—made in collaboration with Tokens Studio by Hyma.

alicepackarddesign.com

10 uses for variables beyond light and dark mode

How to make the most out of Figma's variables feature.

illustrations.saas-ui.dev

Free illustrations for your design system

Free illustrations for your design system documentation. Enhance your UI with high-quality, customizable illustrations.

zeroheight.com

Design systems report 2025

Pretty valuable resource if you dodge all the ads: the fourth edition of the report showcases the current state of Design Systems in 2025.

figma.com

Figma plugin: Variable visualizer

VV turns complex variable relationships into an intuitive visual map, letting you see and manage all your variables in one infinite canvas.

designtokens.fyi

designtokens.fyi

Defining terms for design tokens.

design.cash.app

Cash app brand guidelines

A brand that thrives on the tension between structuring order and explosive freedom.

pjonori.blog

The existential challenge of design system team morale

Design systems are hard. But guess what? So is every other discipline of design and engineering.

jeromantik.de

Design tokens starter set

A comprehensive toolkit featuring 250+ pre-built tokens, variables, tokens studio-compatible JSON, easy WCAG 2.0 color contrasts and more.

buttonconf.com

How to bring structure and clarity to design system components

A spreadsheet tool that simplifies writing about components, enhancing efficiency and consistency for your team.

alicepackarddesign.com

Remove the “direction” property on your arrow icons

3 reasons why that "direction" property is a bad idea (and not just for arrows, but other icons too).

smashingmagazine.com

The digital playbook: a crucial counterpart to your design system

Design systems play a crucial role in today’s digital landscape. But there’s another tool that deserves equal attention: the digital playbook.

supernova.io

Examples of AI guidelines in design systems

How to document best practices for transparency, usability, and trust in AI integration.