Designers Dan Mall, Grace Walker, Adrien Griveau, Yuan Wang, and Luis Ouriach share their insights on: organizing variables and thinking strategically in design systems, pricing strategies for first-year freelancers, best practices for design systems teams, improving design portfolios and case studies, and collaboration with engineers.
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Quick takeaways
Separating primitive and semantic variables in design systems can enhance flexibility and scalability.
Freelancers should raise prices with each new client in the first year to determine their price ceiling and allow for growth.
Deep dives
Separating Primitive and Semantic Variables
In building design systems, it is often advised to keep variables minimal and not spend too much time on future-proofing. However, designer advocate Louis Oriasch suggests that separating primitive variables, such as color foundations, from semantic variables like styles guides, can provide a more flexible foundation. By keeping them in separate files, it becomes easier to adapt to potential future changes or the introduction of new brands or products. This separation allows for a better understanding of the relationship between variables, while still ensuring scalability and avoiding extensive refactors.
Avoiding Retainer Clients in the First Year of Freelancing
During the first year of freelancing, it is crucial to raise prices with each new client to determine the price ceiling, according to Grace Walker. She advises avoiding taking on too many retainer clients during this stage of rapid growth and frequent price changes. Retainer prices can quickly become outdated, necessitating constant rate adjustments that can be stressful and hinder potential growth at higher rates. Instead, freelancers should prioritize the freedom to be flexible with rates in the first year to accommodate the inflation of their skills and experience.
Treating Design Systems as Products
Treating design systems as products can lead to a more efficient approach, as suggested by designer Dan Mall. Rather than striving for a perfect and comprehensive library from the start, Mall proposes adopting a product mindset. This involves creating a minimum viable system and iteratively improving and expanding it based on feedback. By focusing on high-value components and consistently trimming unnecessary elements, design systems can evolve in a lean and effective manner.
This episode of Deep Dives highlights the 5 things I learned from interviewing designers like Dan Mall, Grace Walker, Adrien Griveau, Yuan Wang, and Luis Ouriach. You'll learn:
1) How to organize variables in Figma and think strategically about primitives vs. semantic tokens
2) How to price yourself as a first-year freelance designer
3) How the best design systems teams operate
4) How to level up your design portfolio and rethink your case studies
5) How to collaborate with engineers like the founding designer at Linear
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