Part 4: Typography

Building a design system — where to start?

(Non Medium members can read this article for free here)

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. Let’s take a closer look at typography…

illustration by Ouch.pics

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

Typography

We previously spoke about size and spacing, and how using measurements like REMs are dependant on a base typography measurement. These two concepts — size and space, are family members with typography, and often depend on each other. You’ll notice a few common themes between this and the last chapter in this series as we dive deeper into setting up type.

Much of this article focuses on design decisions that need to be considered as well as some technical considerations. It’s important for designers and developers to work closely together when building a design system, especially in the case of setting up typography.