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What Is a Design Token? The Single Source of Truth in UI Systems

Color, fonts, spacing... If you want everything controlled from one source, meet Design Tokens!

  • #Design
  • #UI
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Consistency with Design Tokens

Making everything look the same across a design system can be as hard as a long Slack debate over a single color code. That’s exactly where Design Tokens step in.

Design tokens are digital labels that store all style variables in a design system (color, font, padding, border-radius, shadow, opacity—whatever you can think of) in one source of truth. What a designer sees in Figma, a developer sees identically in code. Goodbye to the drama of “looks one way in Figma, another in prod.” 😇

{
  "color.primary": "#007AFF",
  "color.secondary": "#FF9500",
  "spacing.sm": "8px",
  "font.family.primary": "Inter, sans-serif",
  "border.radius.md": "6px",
  "shadow.sm": "0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.1)"
}

How Do They Work?

In short: Design Token = A Design Decision in Code Form. A “primary color” or a “base spacing” value is a token. These values can be stored as JSON, YAML, CSS, or SCSS variables. During the build process, they’re automatically transformed into iOS, Android, and Web formats.

When a token changes, the entire UI universe echoes that change. Darkened your primary color a bit? Within seconds every button, link, and icon reflects it. (Not magic—just system!)

Why Use Them?

  • Consistency: The same visual language across all platforms.
  • Centralized management: Need a color change? Update one file and everyone’s happy.
  • Scalability: No chaos even when a 10-person team grows to 100.
  • Theming: Light, Dark, or a “10th-anniversary purple” — all possible with a single file.
  • Automation: When a token changes in Figma, the code repo can update too (yes, some still copy manually in 2025—but you don’t have to).

Implementation Example

Suppose you define a tokens.css like this:
:root {
  --color-primary: #007aff;
  --spacing-md: 16px;
  --radius-sm: 4px;
}
And a React component might look like:
<button style={{ backgroundColor: 'var(--color-primary)', padding: 'var(--spacing-md)', borderRadius: 'var(--radius-sm)' }}>
  Button
</button>
Now if your brand changes its logo, primary color, or typography—no panic. Update the token file, build, sip your coffee. ☕

Design System Integration

Tools like Figma Tokens, Style Dictionary, Theo, and Tokens Studio help manage tokens. They create an automatic bridge between design files and codebases. When the designer updates the “primary” color in Figma, the same change can automatically land in tokens.json. So the “dev didn’t update” excuse fades away. And beyond excuses, this reduces human error and keeps the team aligned for product consistency.

Real-World Example

IBM, Adobe, Salesforce, Shopify—the giants have used this approach for years. With 10 products, 6 platforms, and 3 brand variations, keeping a unified look manually is impossible. A design-token system preserves a brand’s “visual DNA,” delivering both speed and coherence.

And it’s not just for giants—startups benefit even more in the long run. We don’t cut corners just because a project is small, right?! 😉
Even small teams avoid inline-style hell by working token-first—everything becomes more readable and maintainable.

Conclusion

Design tokens are like the Esperanto of UI—everyone speaks the same language. Once the system is in place, achieving consistency across platforms is just one commit away. Turn design decisions into code, and let your team live the single source of truth.

“Tokens don’t just clean up code—they improve team communication, too.”

All tags
  • Design
  • UI
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