Published 16 July 2026 · Source dated 28 November 2024
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.
Penpot has added a plugin system, a template library and a learning centre with ready-made design systems — plus direct CSS/HTML/SVG inspection built in, no plugin needed. That's a meaningful step for a tool that started as "just" an open-source canvas.
It's not at Figma's component/variant maturity yet, but for junior designers building your own design-system literacy, comparing how Penpot structures tokens and components against your Figma setup is a genuinely useful exercise — it forces you to understand *why* your current system is structured the way it is, not just how to use it.
Coach
Open Penpot's template library this week and compare one component's token setup against your current Figma design system — write down what's missing.
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 ·
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.
radical.design ·
Established
Design Tokens Are Now the Default, Not a Nice-to-Have
Design Systems News coverage shows tokens (colour, spacing, type as structured data) have moved from edge-case practice to expected baseline for any real design system. If your system doesn't have tokens yet, that's the gap worth flagging.