Jeremy Dizon
May 9, 2021

This is a great question. From my experience, a styleguide is merely reference material or parameters to follow when designing. Most styleguides include color, typography, and elevation information.

With that said, a design system takes a lot of the same things included in a styleguide but goes further by adding the code and documentation elements. Mostly the code element which allows design tokens to be created and used (ie color nicknames). These nicknames not only allow a shared language between design and engineering but they create an easy way to maintain or update them later, just by changing the value of the nickname.

A design system is a holistic solution to design across multiple teams and features within a product that includes information you can find in a styleguide but partners that information with a code element and contextual guidance.

Sign up to discover human stories that deepen your understanding of the world.

Free

Distraction-free reading. No ads.

Organize your knowledge with lists and highlights.

Tell your story. Find your audience.

Membership

Read member-only stories

Support writers you read most

Earn money for your writing

Listen to audio narrations

Read offline with the Medium app

Jeremy Dizon
Jeremy Dizon

Written by Jeremy Dizon

Product Design / Design Systems super-monkey 🐵 | @jeremydizon on Twitter 💬

No responses yet

Write a response