Design Systems
Token architectures and component libraries that stay adopted after the launch announcement.
- From
- $16,000
- Timeline
- 4–6 weeks for token architecture
- Engagements
- 3
Most design systems fail the same way: an ambitious launch, six months of enthusiasm, then quiet abandonment as teams work around it. The cause is almost never component quality. It is governance, contribution paths and the fact that using the system was slower than not using it.
We build systems that are faster to use than to avoid, with tokens that flow from design to code automatically and a contribution model that survives the founding team moving on.
Fig. 06Deliverables
- 01Token architecture — primitive, semantic and component layers
- 02Automated pipeline from design tokens to code
- 03Component library in your framework, documented and tested
- 04Figma library with variables, variants and clear naming
- 05Accessibility built into components rather than documented beside them
- 06Governance model, contribution path and versioning strategy
01
Inventory
Every colour, spacing value, type style and component variant in production today. The number is always shocking and always useful.
02
Architecture
Token layers and naming. Get this wrong and everything downstream inherits the mistake, so we spend real time here.
03
Build
Components built with states and accessibility included, in your framework, with the pipeline from tokens to code wired up.
04
Adoption
Migration plan, contribution model, office hours. We measure success by adoption rate, not by component count.
Foundations and pipeline
Token architecture
Audit, token architecture and the automated pipeline from design source to production code.
From $16,000
Tokens plus component library
System build
Foundations through to a documented, accessible component library in your framework, with a migration plan.
From $45,000
Ongoing stewardship
System retainer
Maintenance, new components, office hours and adoption support while the system takes root.
From $8,500 / month
Timeline — 4–6 weeks for token architecture; 12–20 weeks for a full system.
A good fit for
- Organisations with several teams producing divergent interfaces
- Teams who tried a system once and watched it get abandoned
- Products where accessibility needs to be structural, not per-feature
Not a fit for
- Single-team products where a system would be pure overhead
- Organisations unwilling to fund maintenance after launch
- Systems intended to lock teams down rather than speed them up
The principles this work is held to.
Published in full, so you can check the work against them yourself.
Can you work with our existing system?
Usually the better option. We audit what is there, fix the architecture underneath, and improve adoption rather than starting over and losing your team's investment.
How do you measure success?
Adoption rate, time-to-ship for a new screen, and the fall in one-off values in production. Not component count.
Who maintains it afterwards?
Your team, with a governance model we set up together. Many clients keep a retainer for the first two quarters, then run it themselves.
Next service
07 — Audit & Critique
Tell us about the design systems work.
A short brief is enough. We reply within two working days, and we will tell you honestly if a different service — or no project at all — would serve you better.