To build the semantic token layers we mentioned in the previous lesson, we developed a color-theming algorithm that, given a few input values, can generate an entire color theme with guaranteed accessible color contrast.
the only thing more dangerous to a design system’s funding case than a lack of understanding of what it is, is a false understanding of what it is. Particularly when that false understanding is often built on a collection of common myths that have elbowed their way, without nuance, into the psyche of our organisations’ leaders.
This interdisciplinary disconnect around grid’s mental model affects how teams execute grid. In a broken, unidirectional, “developer handoff” process, design comps are treated as sacrosanct, and developers see that 12-column semi-transparent pink guideline as a hard requirement that must implemented exactly as articulated by the static design tool. This is how a “how to do a 12-column grid in HTML/CSS?” Google search ultimately led to massive success for tools like Bootstrap. Despite the introduction of many new CSS technologies and layout techniques over many years, this antiquated 12-column mental model still dominates a lot of conversations around layout and grid.