UI Design System

Generate design tokens, create color palettes, calculate typography scales, build component systems, and prepare developer handoff documentation.

Table of Contents

• Trigger Terms
• Workflows
• Workflow 1: Generate Design Tokens
• Workflow 2: Create Component System
• Workflow 3: Responsive Design
• Workflow 4: Developer Handoff
• Tool Reference
• Quick Reference Tables
• Knowledge Base

Trigger Terms

Use this skill when you need to:

• "generate design tokens"
• "create color palette"
• "build typography scale"
• "calculate spacing system"
• "create design system"
• "generate CSS variables"
• "export SCSS tokens"
• "set up component architecture"
• "document component library"
• "calculate responsive breakpoints"
• "prepare developer handoff"
• "convert brand color to palette"
• "check WCAG contrast"
• "build 8pt grid system"

Workflows

Workflow 1: Generate Design Tokens

Situation: You have a brand color and need a complete design token system.

Steps:

1. Identify brand color and style
2. Brand primary color (hex format)

3. Style preference: modern | classic | playful

4. Generate tokens using script bash python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern json

5. Review generated categories

6. Colors: primary, secondary, neutral, semantic, surface
7. Typography: fontFamily, fontSize, fontWeight, lineHeight
8. Spacing: 8pt grid-based scale (0-64)
9. Borders: radius, width
10. Shadows: none through 2xl
11. Animation: duration, easing

12. Breakpoints: xs through 2xl

13. Export in target format ```bash # CSS custom properties python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern css > design-tokens.css

# SCSS variables python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern scss > _design-tokens.scss

# JSON for Figma/tooling python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern json > design-tokens.json ```

1. Validate accessibility
2. Check color contrast meets WCAG AA (4.5:1 normal, 3:1 large text)
3. Verify semantic colors have contrast colors defined

Workflow 2: Create Component System

Situation: You need to structure a component library using design tokens.

Steps:

1. Define component hierarchy
2. Atoms: Button, Input, Icon, Label, Badge
3. Molecules: FormField, SearchBar, Card, ListItem
4. Organisms: Header, Footer, DataTable, Modal

5. Templates: DashboardLayout, AuthLayout

6. Map tokens to components

1. Define variant patterns

Size variants: sm: height 32px, paddingX 12px, fontSize 14px md: height 40px, paddingX 16px, fontSize 16px lg: height 48px, paddingX 20px, fontSize 18px

Color variants: primary: background primary-500, text white secondary: background neutral-100, text neutral-900 ghost: background transparent, text neutral-700

1. Document component API
2. Props interface with types
3. Variant options
4. State handling (hover, active, focus, disabled)

5. Accessibility requirements

6. Reference: See references/component-architecture.md

Workflow 3: Responsive Design

Situation: You need breakpoints, fluid typography, or responsive spacing.

Steps:

1. Define breakpoints

1. Calculate fluid typography

Formula: clamp(min, preferred, max)

css /* 16px to 24px between 320px and 1200px viewport */ font-size: clamp(1rem, 0.5rem + 2vw, 1.5rem);

Pre-calculated scales: css --fluid-h1: clamp(2rem, 1rem + 3.6vw, 4rem); --fluid-h2: clamp(1.75rem, 1rem + 2.3vw, 3rem); --fluid-h3: clamp(1.5rem, 1rem + 1.4vw, 2.25rem); --fluid-body: clamp(1rem, 0.95rem + 0.2vw, 1.125rem);

1. Set up responsive spacing

1. Reference: See references/responsive-calculations.md

Workflow 4: Developer Handoff

Situation: You need to hand off design tokens to development team.

Steps:

1. Export tokens in required formats ```bash # For CSS projects python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern css

# For SCSS projects python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern scss

# For JavaScript/TypeScript python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC" modern json ```

1. Prepare framework integration

React + CSS Variables: ```tsx import './design-tokens.css';

Click ```

Tailwind Config: ```javascript const tokens = require('./design-tokens.json');

module.exports = { theme: { colors: tokens.colors, fontFamily: tokens.typography.fontFamily } }; ```

styled-components: ```typescript import tokens from './design-tokens.json';

const Button = styled.buttonbackground: ${tokens.colors.primary['500']}; padding: ${tokens.spacing['2']} ${tokens.spacing['4']};; ```

1. Sync with Figma
2. Install Tokens Studio plugin
3. Import design-tokens.json

4. Tokens sync automatically with Figma styles

5. Handoff checklist

6. [ ] Token files added to project
7. [ ] Build pipeline configured
8. [ ] Theme/CSS variables imported
9. [ ] Component library aligned

10. [ ] Documentation generated

11. Reference: See references/developer-handoff.md

Tool Reference

design_token_generator.py

Generates complete design token system from brand color.

Examples:

# Generate JSON tokens (default)
python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#0066CC"

# Classic style with CSS output
python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#8B4513" classic css

# Playful style summary view
python scripts/design_token_generator.py "#FF6B6B" playful summary

Output Categories:

Quick Reference Tables

Color Scale Generation

Typography Scale (1.25x Ratio)

WCAG Contrast Requirements

Large text: ≥18pt regular or ≥14pt bold

Style Presets

Knowledge Base

Detailed reference guides in references/:

Validation Checklist

Token Generation

• [ ] Brand color provided in hex format
• [ ] Style matches project requirements
• [ ] All token categories generated
• [ ] Semantic colors include contrast values

Component System

• [ ] All sizes implemented (sm, md, lg)
• [ ] All variants implemented (primary, secondary, ghost)
• [ ] All states working (hover, active, focus, disabled)
• [ ] Uses only design tokens (no hardcoded values)

Accessibility

• [ ] Color contrast meets WCAG AA
• [ ] Focus indicators visible
• [ ] Touch targets ≥ 44×44px
• [ ] Semantic HTML elements used

Developer Handoff

• [ ] Tokens exported in required format
• [ ] Framework integration documented
• [ ] Design tool synced
• [ ] Component documentation complete