Carbon Design Kit: The Ultimate IBM Design System
With the advent of technology and programming languages, the focus on user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design has taken center stage. One such open-source project that's making numerous strides in design systems is the Carbon Design Kit hosted on GitHub.
The Carbon Design Kit is a crucial part of the Carbon Design System, created and maintained by IBM. The main objective of the project lies in developing a comprehensive IBM design system that encompasses every digital experience. Its relevance is notable in building visually compelling and interactive user interfaces.
Project Overview:
The primary goal of the Carbon Design Kit aims at providing a consistent and comprehensive design system for IBM's digital encounters. This project assists in mitigating the disconnect between developers, designers, and the user by offering a universal language that simplifies development and increases productivity. The pivotal audience for this project includes developers, designers, and IBM-led digital projects.
Project Features:
The Carbon Design Kit leverages Sketch Libraries to offer key features such as pre-built components, templates, and guidelines for accessibility and color usage. With these tools, designers can build user-interfaces seamlessly, facilitate improved user experience, and create visually consistent IBM applications. For instance, the Carbon Design Kit effectively allows designers to use Sketch Libraries to design UI prototypes that follow IBM's design principles.
Technology Stack:
The Carbon Design Kit primarily uses Sketch for its applications. Sketch is a vector-based design tool for macOS with focusing specifically on screen design. The reason for choosing Sketch lies in its powerful rendering of vector graphics and the depth of its robust plugin ecosystem which significantly contributes to the project's success.
Project Structure and Architecture:
The overall structure of the Carbon Design Kit is meticulously planned to be consistent and easily navigable. Its primary parts consist of the 'carbon-elements', 'carbon-components', and 'carbon-website' that interact together for a cohesive user experience. The primary focus of the system is to eliminate redundancy and to promote reuse for a broad spectrum of digital, product, and brand experiences.
