Design tokens
Design tokens store visual design attributes. They help us make our UI more consistent and we support custom themes.
We are preparing new specification of how we want theming work in Orbit. More soon.
We use tokens instead of static values (like HEX codes) for color or sizing units.
Installation
If you are already using @kiwicom/orbit-components, you don’t need to install the tokens because they’re included as a dependency to ensure compatibility.
You can install the package on its own.
// Using npm
npm install --save @kiwicom/orbit-design-tokens
// Using yarn
yarn add @kiwicom/orbit-design-tokensHow to use
Using @kiwicom/orbit-components
To use the default tokens, add an import in the file where you want to use the design tokens.
import defaultTheme from "@kiwicom/orbit-components/lib/defaultTheme";Now you can use tokens by entering defaultTheme.orbit and continuing the dot-notation with the token name you want to use, e.g. defaultTheme.orbit.colorTextPrimary. More advanced text editors should suggest which tokens are available to you so you can find tokens quicker than by typing the entire token name.
You can also create your own tokens for themes using getTokens from @kiwicom/orbit-components and create custom uses in styled-components. See more at Theming.
Independently
To use the default tokens, add an import in the file where you want to use the design tokens.
import { defaultTokens } from "@kiwicom/orbit-design-tokens";Now you can use tokens by typing defaultTokens and continuing the dot-notation with the token name you want to use, e.g. defaultTokens.colorTextPrimary. More advanced text editors should suggest which tokens are available to you so you can find tokens quicker than by typing the entire token name.
You can also create your own tokens for themes using getTokens from @kiwicom/orbit-design-tokens. See more at Generating your theme.
Formats
The main structure of the package is written in JavaScript for better usage in JavaScript projects. We are also able to generate a JSON file which will allow us to transform this type of file into different ones. It should be possible to transform JSON into SASS, LESS, Stylus, XML or others.
Naming conventions
Every design token in the package has a name according to the Orbit naming conventions. These conventions should be systematic and work according to the following template:
property_usage-type--state
Full list of design tokens
Colors
Use these tokens for text or icon colors. Don’t use these for borders and background colors.
Font family
Background colors
Use these tokens for background colors only. Do not use these for border colors or text theme.palette.
Font size
Use these sizing tokens for font sizes.
Border radius
Use radius tokens to change the border-radius size (rounded corners).
Z Index
Use layers to show depth of page.