Foreword

It’s never been easier to create a functional design system. New tools, widespread support, and plenty of available resources mean that most of us can have one up and running relatively fast.

But there’s a lingering problem. After so carefully crafting kits, parts, and components, many teams find that their systems aren’t used as intended, or—even worse—aren’t used at all.

We talk a lot about design systems, but that doesn’t always mean we understand them at a deeper level. How does a system serve the brand and the purpose of the products we build? What do design patterns communicate? How do they relate to each other? How does changing a pattern alter the perception of the brand as a whole?

Yesenia answers those questions and many more. She explains how to grasp a brand’s ethos, then demonstrates, through real-world examples, how design intent manifests in the smallest details—leading to systems that are as expressive as they are effective.

To make design systems more purposeful, creative, and inclusive, we need a compelling conceptual framework, a way of grasping the systemic expression of the brand alongside day-to-day patterns and components. Yesenia teaches us practical techniques and thoughtful strategies that we can put to work right away—so we can see both the forest and the trees.

—Alla Kholmatova