# The future of design systems is semantic

DevFeed: [The future of design systems is semantic](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-future-of-design-systems-is-semantic-10119.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.figma.com/blog/the-future-of-design-systems-is-semantic/>)

Author: Carly Ayres

Published: 2023-07-27T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Figma Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/figma-blog.md>)

Topics: [Figma](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/figma.md>), [Tooling](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/tooling.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [Google](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/google.md>), [App](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/app.md>)

Tags: [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [design-systems](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design-systems.md>), [figma](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/figma.md>), [google](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google.md>), [google-maps](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/google-maps.md>), [tokens](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tokens.md>), [tooling](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tooling.md>)

## AI overview

The article examines how Figma variables and design tokens support reusable design values, theming, dynamic prototyping, and closer connections between design and code. It presents these capabilities as evidence of a broader shift toward semantic design systems and discusses how teams can maintain consistent palettes at scale, including the Google Maps team's reduction of its color palette from more than 700 colors to 25 hues.

## Source excerpt

Variables, one of Figma's newest features, help you streamline designs and connect more closely to code, but what do they tell us about larger shifts in the industry? We dig into what they might signal for the future of design systems.