A palette in Figma is not a design system. Tokens only earn their keep when the same names flow from design files into code without translation loss. Here is the naming scheme we settled on.
Why it matters
Projects rarely fail on technology — they fail on unclear decisions made early and discovered late. Writing the approach down, in public, forces the clarity we want at kickoff.
- Start from the user-visible outcome, not the stack.
- Make the second build cheaper than the first.
- Ship something measurable every week.
The takeaway
Treat this as a starting point, not gospel — every project bends the rules somewhere. The value is in knowing exactly which rule you are bending, and why.
