What are design systems?
One of the recent hot topics in the industry, a Design System simply put is a document highlighting the single source of truth which contains all the elements and guidelines to allow a team to design, realise and build a product effectively.
A Design System is a set of rules, principles and constraints implemented in the creation of a product or website. This also contains a reusable library of components with the guidelines for how to use them effectively.
Back in the day, a designer would create a loose interpretation of the basic styling requirements for a website. The colours, icons, typography, and buttons and it would be tucked away on a server somewhere, rarely opened by anyone other than a new team member or when it had to be dusted off and sent to a third party.
Fast forward to today, where we have the concept of a design system, allowing us to take a new more efficient approach to building new pages for our websites which makes the visual aspects of creating a design become totally modular. This makes visualising ideas so much faster! Design teams can create mock ups lightening fast enabling them to spend more time focusing on the experience and content of pages.
Design systems are a living entity that needs to be nurtured and evolved as your product and brand change. You should add new components as you solve particular design challenges.
