15

    Creating and Managing Styles and Tokens

    By Nitin Khatri (Senior UI/UX Designer & Educator)
    Reviewed by Sarah Miller (Principal Product Designer (Reviewer))
    Updated
    Video Lesson: 10:45
    Level: Intermediate
    Official References:
    Figma Help CenterFigma YouTube Channel

    Consistency goes beyond components; it starts with styles. This lesson covers creating global styles for color, text, and effects, and introduces the concept of Design Tokens.

    Complete tasks and quiz to finish this lesson.
    Tasks
    Quiz

    Lesson Video

    Lesson Content

    Learning Objectives

    • •Create and apply Color, Text, Effect, and Grid styles
    • •Organize styles using naming conventions and folders
    • •Understand the transition from Styles to Design Tokens (Variables)
    • •Implement multi-mode setup for light and dark themes using variables

    What You'll Learn

    1. Building a global color palette as styles
    2. Creating a typography scale for consistent headers and body text
    3. Introduction to Figma Variables for design tokens
    4. Managing tokens for colors, spacing, and radius

    Key Concepts

    Global Styles
    Typography Scales
    Design Tokens
    Semantic Naming

    Key Takeaways

    • ✓Styles ensure that changes to core colors or fonts update everywhere.
    • ✓Figma Variables take styles further by allowing for programmatic design decisions.
    • ✓Semantic naming (e.g., 'primary-button-background') is better than descriptive naming.
    • ✓Tokens facilitate a smoother transition from design to development.

    Practice Tasks

    Global Style Palette

    Create a centralized collection of styles for color and typography.

    • Select a color and save it as a new 'Color Style' named 'Brand/Primary'
    • Create 'Text Styles' for 'H1', 'H2', and 'Body' with distinct sizes
    • Assign the styles to elements on the canvas
    • Update the 'H1' style and verify all assigned text layers update instantly

    Variable System Setup

    Implement Figma Variables to handle semantic tokens and multi-mode support.

    • Open 'Local Variables' and create a collection for 'Colors'
    • Define a 'Brand' primitive color and a 'surface-bg' semantic alias
    • Create a second 'Mode' column for 'Dark' theme
    • Apply the variable to a frame and toggle between Light and Dark modes

    Knowledge Check

    Pass with 70% or higher

    1. When you update a global 'Color Style', what happens to elements that have that style applied?

    2. Which of the following properties CANNOT currently be saved as a Figma Style?

    3. What is a major advantage of using 'Figma Variables' over traditional Styles?

    4. What is the difference between an 'Alias' and a 'Primitive' in a design token system?

    Lesson FAQ

    Q: How can I practice what I learned in this lesson?

    We highly recommend opening your own Figma workspace in a side window and repeating the steps shown in the video. Utilize the tasks checklist above for specific practice targets.

    Q: What should I do if my layout behaves differently from the walkthrough?

    Double-check parent-child constraints and resizing values (e.g. Hug vs Fill). Ensure Auto Layout direction is correct and check the related guidebooks below for step-by-step visual references.

    Lesson Resources & Connections

    Prerequisites

    No prerequisites required. This is a foundational starter lesson.

    Related Guidebook

    How to create and manage text styles in Figma

    Read Guidebook →

    How to apply consistent typography across Figma designs

    Read Guidebook →

    Relevant Design Tool

    Palette Generator

    Build system color variables.

    Open Companion Tool →

    Color Converter

    Convert Hex, RGB, HSL values.

    Open Companion Tool →

    Next Lesson

    Using Constraints for Responsive Resizing