Baseline #14 – A Guide to Variables in Figma

Hello again! 👋 Phew, what a busy couple of weeks! Since returning home from Figma’s 2023 Config conference, I’ve been spending time in the tool, working to adjust all of the various component libraries to use the many new features now available. In this edition of the newsletter, and perhaps in the next few to come, I’d love to dive deep into each of those new features, uncover what’s new, and share all that I’ve learned as I make my way into everything. Let’s start by talking more about variables, what they are, how I’m beginning to use them, and a few shortcuts to help make workflows and creation more efficient! Within almost every new product update, it seemed that Figma was working to bring new value to the design tool and introduce ways in which the two functions of design and engineering could become closer. The launch of components allowed designers to create and maintain reusable assets, such as buttons, inputs, and controls, often matching those building blocks in code with F

Hello again! 👋 Phew, what a busy couple of weeks! Since returning home from Figma’s 2023 Config conference, I’ve been spending time in the tool, working to adjust all of the various component libraries to use the many new features now available. In this edition of the newsletter, and perhaps in the next few to come, I’d love to dive deep into each of those new features, uncover what’s new, and share all that I’ve learned as I make my way into everything. Let’s start by talking more about variables, what they are, how I’m beginning to use them, and a few shortcuts to help make workflows and cr