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Part 1: first things first
Building a design system — where to start?
Colour, space and typography — these elements are the building blocks for a solid design system. They are distinctive visual elements to focus on when building a brand, but first things first…
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What we’ll be covering…
Part 1 — First things first
Part 2 — Colour
Part 3 — Size and spacing
Part 4 — Typography
Part 5 — Bonus elements
Design Systems
There have been a myriad of articles and content generated around design systems and their benefits, if you are a small startup or a large enterprise, it’s a great idea to start building one. A design system is an evolving ruleset governing the composition of a product and brand. They build consistent, cohesive visual experiences across devices and platforms, they also centralise and consolidate design efforts.
“A design system is a systematic approach that outputs the building blocks for designing in a scalable and sustainable way” ~ Shane Williams
I’m not going to try sell you on why you should use and build a design system, there are plenty of articles that do that. I’ll give some practical advice on where to start and what to focus on as you lay down the foundations.
There are great exercises you can do to get started that help provide clarity on what needs to be built — Nathan Curtis’s team activity is detailed in his article Picking Parts, Products & People and Brad Frost’s interface inventory exercise. But, the need to tackle space, colour and typography is essential to all design systems. These three focus areas are what create distinctive, recognisable and unique brands. When you’re ready to start, begin with these.
