So, I was reading this article from Happy Cog and it struck a chord with me as regards systems for design.

Whenever I start a web design project, I’m looking for elements from previous projects that can be re-used in planning the new project.  I might lift an HTML code base from one, a set of responsive style sheets from another, or a collection of jquery plugins from a third.  The goal is consistency – I want my projects to be coded and developed using a consistent base of ingredients … this way, it makes it easier for me to re-use items in the future, it makes it quicker to develop future projects, and it makes it clearer for any developer I’m working with to interpret the code (and my intention) going forward.

Of course, the people at Happy Cog are able to express it better than me, plus, they get to use a Cupcake analogy, which further marks them out as a bit special!

A beautiful design system is about finding the same balance of consistency and variety. Too systematic and the design becomes predictable and repetitive. Too much variation and the system is confusing and overwhelming.

One of our design goals is to create work that is sustainable, and our design process always aims for the right amount of consistency without homogenization. We like to create design systems that are easy to build, evolve, and use.

Check out the full article: Sweet Systems