Adapting a design system for multiple brands or themes allows companies to support brand differentiation while leveraging a single source of truth for UI components. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also ensures that design guidelines remain consistent across brand expressions. In this guide, we’ll explore best practices for scaling a design system to accommodate multiple brands or themes, covering shared components, theming strategies, and maintenance tips.

Benefits of a Scalable, Multi-Brand Design System

A scalable design system for multiple brands offers numerous advantages, including:

• Consistency Across Brands: Establishes a unified design language, reducing inconsistencies and maintaining quality across all brands.
• Efficiency in Development: Reusable components speed up the design and development process, minimizing redundant work for each brand.
• Cost Savings: Centralized updates allow for easier maintenance and reduced design overhead, optimizing resources.

Scaling a design system provides flexibility to support various brand identities while adhering to core design principles, ensuring a cohesive user experience across all digital products.

Step 1: Define Shared Components and Design Tokens

Shared components and design tokens serve as the backbone of a multi-brand design system, providing a foundation that can be adapted for each brand’s unique needs. Start by defining core components, such as buttons, inputs, and navigation elements, that will remain consistent across all brands.

Using Design Tokens: Design tokens allow you to define colors, typography, spacing, and other design properties in a way that can be easily adapted for each brand. By creating a base set of design tokens, you can apply brand-specific variations without redesigning each component.

For example, set up tokens for primary colors, font sizes, and spacing units, and then adjust these values for each brand. This approach ensures that core elements remain consistent, while allowing for brand-specific customization.

Step 2: Implement Theming for Brand Variations

Theming enables you to apply brand-specific styles to shared components, making it easy to switch between themes based on the brand or context. In a React design system, for example, you can use libraries like styled-components or Emotion to manage themes dynamically.

Example of Theming with Styled-Components:

import { ThemeProvider } from "styled-components";

const themeA = {
  colors: {
    primary: "#1a73e8",
    background: "#ffffff"
  }
};

const themeB = {
  colors: {
    primary: "#ff5722",
    background: "#fafafa"
  }
};

function App({ theme }) {
  return (
    
      
    
  );
}

This approach enables a seamless transition between themes, allowing you to apply brand-specific styles while maintaining the underlying component structure.

Step 3: Create Brand-Specific Component Variants

While many components can be shared across brands, some may need slight modifications to meet specific brand requirements. In these cases, create brand-specific variants that adapt the styling or layout without duplicating the entire component.

Example of Brand-Specific Button Variants: Instead of creating separate button components for each brand, use props to toggle styles based on the brand. This can be done by setting brand-specific classes or passing theme values as props.

Brand-specific variants allow for flexibility, giving each brand its unique look while maintaining consistency in component functionality.

Step 4: Organize Components and Themes in the Design System

Organizing components and themes effectively is essential to keep the design system manageable. Consider creating a folder structure or naming convention that distinguishes shared components from brand-specific ones, making it easy for team members to locate and update components.

Suggested Folder Structure:

• components/shared/ - Shared components used by all brands.
• components/brandA/ - Brand A-specific components or overrides.
• components/brandB/ - Brand B-specific components or overrides.
• themes/ - Contains design tokens and theme configurations for each brand.

This structure ensures that components are organized logically, allowing team members to quickly find and update brand-specific components as needed.

Step 5: Document Brand Guidelines and Usage

Documentation is crucial for maintaining a multi-brand design system. Provide clear guidelines on how to use themes, shared components, and brand-specific variants, so team members know how to implement each brand’s unique identity consistently.

Documentation Tips:

• Include Theme Examples: Show examples of each brand’s theme and provide guidelines on when to use them.
• Define Component Variants: Document brand-specific component variants, including examples and use cases.
• Explain Design Tokens: Detail how to use and adapt design tokens for brand-specific needs.

Effective documentation ensures that all team members, from designers to developers, understand how to apply the design system across brands, reducing inconsistencies and speeding up development.

Maintaining a Scalable Multi-Brand Design System

As your design system evolves, maintaining scalability and consistency across brands is essential. Here are some best practices:

• Regularly Review Components: Schedule periodic reviews to ensure that shared components and themes remain aligned with brand needs and design standards.
• Encourage Collaboration: Involve both designers and developers in updates, gathering feedback from each brand team to maintain a balanced, user-centered design system.
• Update Documentation: Keep documentation up-to-date with any changes, ensuring that guidelines reflect the latest design system standards.

Real-World Examples of Scalable, Multi-Brand Design Systems

Companies like Uber, IBM, and Salesforce have successfully implemented scalable design systems that support multiple brands and themes. Uber’s Base Web design system, for example, enables customization for Uber Eats and Uber Freight, while IBM’s Carbon Design System supports multiple IBM product lines with brand-specific themes. These systems demonstrate the effectiveness of theming, shared components, and robust documentation in maintaining consistency across brands.