Plugins and Tools to implement a Design System Faster.

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1

Good morning, community,

I’m new to Sketch (actually returned after years), and I’m looking to make it my daily tool, but I’m quite lost trying to build a design system from scratch. Do you know of any references, tools, or plugins that can make the process easier? Or any recommended tools you guys use on a daily basis?

Thanks in advance.

2

Hi there,

Been there last year. I only made a limited library with base token levels basics (icons, colours, fonts, shadows) and the most stable components (drop-downs, buttons) because it’s a new app project.

The most useful to me was looking at the resources in Sketch. File > New from templates… > Resources

The Apple one is pretty complete and they had another one called Inspire UI kit that I liked because it was narrower in scope and easier to understand. I see it in my libraries but not in references anymore.

Some advice:

  • If you bulid your system as you build your project, it’s a lot more practical to make the system in the file you work on. Having a separate library file from the get go is very slow as the sync in not instaneous with your work file and you need to save as a version every time (it’s a save with a dialog box, maddening).
  • In my case I had exploration files (one per quarter) and production files (one per year) where I added the mockups for devs and rationalised the system. When the base system in production got stable I made a library file.

I didn’t use any plugins, when my symbols page became unwieldy, I just split the symbols into pages (buttons and controls, cards, nav, and so on) you can drag the symbols from the layer list to the pages to move them.

I hope others will chime in because I would love some more tips on the subject

3

Hi!

I usually use icon search plugins like Phosphor Icons.
Recently, I also built a plugin for searching icons from the Remix Icon library in Sketch, feel free to check it out if you’re interested:

Btw, I’m currently bringing back a very convenient feature that used to exist in Sketch Runner, a fast search and replace tool for symbols. It might be helpful for building and maintaining design systems

4

Thanks for the insight. :star:

5

I hope that too, thanks for the answer.

6

Hey! I’d like to share my plugin Component Browser.

It makes navigating components much easier (kind of a spotlight like experience).

I originally built it for myself as a replacement for the discontinued Sketch Runner. The builtin component search in Sketch just didn’t fit my workflow.

Some highlights:

  1. Quickly replace a layer with a component (shift + enter)

  2. Option to keep or ignore proportions when replacing

  3. Easy navigation between component libraries

  4. Batch replace is supported too - just select multiple layers and replace them all at once

Again- this plugin was mainly built for my own workflow, so the focus is on simple ux and speed.

It’s also available in the Sketch Plugins library.

To open it, press [cmd] + [shift] + [;]

I’ll probably add more customization options in the future.