Understanding Color Style Guides in Figma: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Designing visually appealing and consistent user interfaces is crucial for any successful product. One of the fundamental aspects of creating a harmonious design is the use of a well-defined color scheme. In Figma, a popular design tool used by designers, the Color Style Guide plays a pivotal role in maintaining design consistency and efficiency. In this article, we will explore what a Color Style Guide is in Figma, its importance, and how to create one using both manual processes and the Foundation color generator plugin.

What is a Color Style Guide in Figma?

In Figma, a Color Style Guide is a collection of predefined color swatches that represent the color palette of a design project. These color styles act as the primary source for choosing and applying consistent colors throughout the entire design process. By using color styles, designers can ensure that the same shades are reused consistently, making it easier to maintain visual coherence across various screens, components, and artboards.

Importance of Color Style Guides

1. Consistency: A Color Style Guide enforces uniformity in design, ensuring that all team members use the same colors consistently. This consistency fosters a cohesive and polished look for the final product.

2. Time-Saving: By using color styles, designers can quickly apply pre-defined colors to elements without manually selecting and adjusting each color individually. This time-saving aspect is particularly crucial for large-scale projects with numerous screens and components.

3. Easy Updating: When changes are required in the color scheme, updating the Color Style Guide automatically propagates these changes throughout the entire design, eliminating the need for manual revisions.

Creating a Color Style Guide Manually

Step 1: Selecting a Color Palette

The first step is to decide on the color palette for your design. It’s essential to choose colors that align with your brand, target audience, and overall design vision. Aim for a balance between primary colors, secondary colors, neutrals, and accent colors. Once you have selected the colors, note down their hexadecimal values (e.g., #FF5733).

Your Selected Color Palette you can choose freely and add other color

Step 2: Adding Colors to the Color Style Guide

In Figma, open the “Assets” panel, and click on the “+” button to create a new Color Style. Name the style according to the color’s purpose, such as “Primary,” “Secondary,” or “Accent.” Enter the corresponding hexadecimal value in the color picker to add the color to the style.

adding Color Style to Library

Step 3: Reusing Color Styles

With the Color Styles created, you can now apply them to various elements in your design. Select an element, go to the “Fill” section in the right-hand properties panel, and click on the color swatch icon. Choose the appropriate color style from the list to apply it to the element.

And we just choose color that we want from Libraries

Using the Foundation Color Generator Plugin

To expedite the color style creation process in Figma, you can leverage the Foundation Color Generator plugin, which assists in generating color palettes based on specific parameters.

Step 1: Installing the Plugin

In Figma, go to the “Plugins” section from the top menu, click on “Browse all plugins,” and search for “Foundation Color Generator.” Click “Install” to add the plugin to your workspace.

You can save or install the plugin direct from Figma

Step 2: Configuring the Color Palette

Once the plugin is installed, you can access it by clicking on “Plugins” > “Foundation Color Generator.” Here, you can specify various parameters such as the number of colors, hue range, saturation, and lightness to create a custom color palette.

You can choose and using profiles and color hex codes as your branding color and also name it.

Step 3: Applying the Generated Color Styles

After generating the color palette, the plugin will create new Color Styles in Figma based on the parameters you set. These styles are now available in the “Assets” panel, and you can apply them to your design elements, just like the manually created color styles.

Plugin Foundation Color Generator result on right panel

New color style that available in the Asset Panel

Conclusion

A Color Style Guide is an indispensable tool for designers working in Figma, ensuring design consistency and efficiency throughout a project. By creating a well-defined Color Style Guide manually or using plugins like the Foundation Color Generator, designers can maintain a harmonious color scheme that reflects their brand identity and resonates with their target audience. This results in visually appealing and polished user interfaces, ultimately contributing to the overall success of the product. Embrace the power of color styles in Figma, and elevate your design workflow to new heights!