Even Figma isn't sure about its own design tokens

Short summary

W3C's Design Tokens Community Group (DTCG) is standardizing design token formats with backing from Figma, Adobe, Google, and others to end vendor lock-in. Ironically, Figma itself doesn't document what its own variables represent (is "10" pixels or a z-index?). Anchoring to the open DTCG standard rather than proprietary tool formats hedges against vendor obsolescence and current AI-driven uncertainty in creative software.

• •DTCG is a W3C standard gaining major industry adoption to standardize design token formats across tools
• •Figma, despite being a DTCG member, still exports bare values without semantic meaning—a key problem the standard solves
• •Anchoring to DTCG protects against vendor lock-in and market uncertainty (Figma stock down 85%, Adobe facing AI headwinds)

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.