Color Tokens in Design Systems: Naming and Scaling
How to define and manage color tokens in design systems. Covers semantic naming, alias tokens, theming, and syncing with code variables.
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Tags: design-systems, color, developer-tools
Color Tokens in Design Systems: Naming, Structure, and Scaling Color tokens are the mechanism that separates a design system that scales from one that slowly collapses under its own weight. Without tokens, color values scatter across hundreds of components, theming requires a global find-and-replace, and dark mode means building a second version of everything. With a well-structured token system, changing the brand color updates every component automatically, dark mode is a layer swap, and new themes are configuration, not construction. This guide covers the full token architecture: from primitive definitions through semantic roles to component-specific assignments, along with naming conventions, Figma Variables integration, and CSS custom properties implementation. --- What Color Tokens…
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