Published 11 July 2026 · Source dated 20 June 2025
Figma's Config 2025 event pushed Grid and layout tooling that echoes ideas Penpot's community has championed for years. The real trend is design systems converging around code-native layout and tokens.
Figma's Config 2025 event leaned hard into Grid, layout tooling, and AI features — and Penpot's own community reaction points out some of it echoes CSS Grid/Flex ideas Penpot has pushed for years. Whichever tool your studio budgets for, the real signal is that design systems are converging around code-native layout: grid and auto-layout that maps directly to CSS, not just visual guides.
This is **adoption**: the underlying pattern (design tools speaking code's language) isn't new, but 2025 pushed it mainstream across both major players.
If you're building a design system for a portfolio project, try expressing your grid and spacing as named tokens instead of eyeballed numbers — it's a small change that reads as more senior.
Coach
Take one component in your portfolio and rebuild its spacing/grid as named tokens instead of magic numbers.
Design tokens: the shared language for Figma & Penpot
The W3C's Design Tokens format is becoming the standard way colour, spacing and type values move between tools. If you use both Figma and Penpot, tokens are how your work stays portable.
designsystems.news ·
Adoption
Penpot's design system tooling is catching up
A walkthrough of Penpot's plugin system, template library and learning centre shows open-source tooling is building out real design-system support, not just basic shapes. Worth a look if you're on Figma + Penpot.
youtube.com ·
Established
Design Tokens Are Now Just... How Design Systems Work
Token-based design systems have moved from nice-to-have to default practice for keeping design and dev in sync. This is settled, multi-year practice, not a new trend.