Decoding Compound Tokens

Discover why bundling multiple properties in one token challenges the core principle of "one token, one value".

Welcome back to the uniquely dedicated newsletter on design tokens!

In this issue, let's dive into a crucial aspect of design tokens — the concept of "compound tokens."

Design tokens have shaken up how we maintain consistency in our designs, but it's crucial to ponder the implications of straying from the fundamental "one token, one value" principle.

Remember: design tokens should stick in your memory.
If they don't, no one's gonna use them.

What are compound tokens?

Compound tokens are like the swiss army knives of design properties.

They're tokens that pull together multiple design aspects into one, like a superhero of tokens.

Instead of juggling a bunch of individual tokens for every property, you can create a powerhouse token that wrangles various aspects together.

How they work

Alright, so compound tokens roll with the semantic (or alias) tokens. The values inside them? Well, those are the global (or core) ones.

But, wait a second, why not just use the global tokens directly?

Good questi…