How to Build a Multi-Brand Design System with Tokens

Designing for one brand is hard enough.
Designing for many brands — across products, teams, and themes — is a whole new level.

But with the right setup, especially using design tokens, you can create a scalable multi-brand design system that doesn’t feel bloated or brittle.

Here’s how to do it right.

🧠 What Is a Multi-Brand Design System?

A multi-brand design system serves more than one product, sub-brand, or theme — while keeping shared structure and logic intact.

Use cases:

• Different product lines with distinct branding

• White-label platforms

• Regional or campaign-specific themes

• Light/dark modes or seasonal variants

💬 You don’t need separate design systems — you need a flexible one.

🎯 Why Tokens Are Essential

Tokens make it possible to:

• Reuse structure, spacing, and layout logic

• Change branding (colors, fonts, shadows) on the fly

• Support theming without duplicating components

• Sync updates across all brands consistently

💬 Tokens = your design system’s switchboard.

🛠️ How to Structure a Multi-Brand System with Tokens

1. Start With a Shared Core

Create a base token set for:

• Spacing (spacing.sm, spacing.lg)

• Typography scale (font.body, font.heading)

• Layout rules (grid, breakpoints, radius)

💬 These tokens don’t change across brands.

2. Create Brand-Specific Tokens

Layer brand-specific values on top of the core:

You can swap token collections in Figma or code depending on the brand context.

💬 The structure stays the same — only values change.

3. Use Token Collections or Themes in Figma

✅ Group your tokens in Figma Variables (e.g. Brand A, Brand B)
✅ Switch variable collections to swap themes instantly
✅ Test layouts with different brands using the same components

💬 This keeps your design logic portable.

4. Build Token-Aware Components

✅ Buttons, cards, navs, etc. should use tokens — never hardcoded styles
✅ Token-driven styles update automatically when the brand/theme changes
✅ Avoid custom overrides unless absolutely needed

💬 Hardcoding color = hard-coding pain.

5. Document the Structure

✅ Explain how core and brand tokens relate
✅ Include diagrams or visual maps
✅ Show fallback logic (e.g. if brandX has no color.accent, use color.primary)

💬 Great documentation prevents one-off exceptions later.

🧩 Optional: Add Mode Tokens (e.g. Dark/Light)

You can also nest theme modes (like dark/light) within each brand.

💬 Support for themes doesn’t require extra components — just smart tokens.

📘 See It in Action

Sigma Design System was built with tokens that scale across themes and brands — using Figma variables and a smart naming system to support dark mode, alternate layouts, and brand flexibility.