Managing icon component sizes
It's time to retire that icon wrapper component
Alice Packard's Journal Entries
Alice Packard is a design operations practitioner who loves supporting her team. This journal is where she documents her career journey, writes about things she's made, and experiences she's had.
Latest posts
My Figma wish-list
mostly boring, unsexy features and capabilities for Figma Design
Why I don't use icon fonts in Figma
SVGs are the way
10 common component architecture mistakes in Figma design systems
and what to do instead
12 ways to make your Figma components more delightful to use
Designers strive to make usable products. And components are themselves tiny products... let's make 'em usable!
When to use variants, component props, variables, or separate components
Variables, variants, component swapping, and component properties all offer different advantages. Choosing the right feature is key to building a strong component library.
Figma web browser mockup resource
Chrome, Safari, and Firefox, for both Windows and Mac, all utilizing Figma's auto-layout feature
Review: Kitchen Sink Figma component architecture
Let's look at the tradeoffs between file performance and component management and maintence that come with this method of building components
11 uses for variables beyond light and dark mode
tired: light/dark, wired: density
Library file page-organization strategies (pros and cons)
one component per page is not the only (or best) solution
Live strokes VS flattened filled paths for icons in Figma
It doesn't matter! Use both! You can have it all!
This is probably why your Figma variant's "size" property isn't working
"it works fine on the canvas, but not when it's nested inside another component?!"
I've stopped flattening icon layers, and my color overrides are working perfectly
Collapsing SVGs into one layer is expensive, risky, and makes for a more fragile icon collection
✂ Placeholders are for people who know trying to predict the future is a losing game
reject the allure of the crystal ball, embrace not knowing, and know peace
Remove the "direction" property on your arrow icons
And thumbs, chevrons, trend lines...
Prevent icons from cracking when outlining strokes
there's two different workarounds!
Preserve directional icons' orientation on swap
Why swapping arrow-right for arrow-down still shows an arrow pointing to the right
How to rescue your Figma file from the depths of hell and live to tell the tale
Let's get your file memory back.
Organize your variables in 3 levels of collections
alt title: how to make sense of variable collections in Figma
Use branches to keep file memory low
It turns out layers and large variant sets aren't the only things eating up file memeory
Tutorial: build WORKING radio buttons, tabs, pagination, and breadcrumb sets in your Figma library
A workaround for managing prototype-ready materials in your library
Yes, there actually IS a way to add layers to instances of Figma components
According to Figma’s documentation this isn’t possible, but I’ve found a way to get around it. No plugin required.
Edit the width of nested components using zero-frames as resizers
Here's a hint: space between is an overrideable attribute...
The 6 Auto Layout stumbling blocks you need to understand to master this feature once and for all.
Because "just practice" and "learn flexbox" aren't good enough.
⍚ Base components are still useful, just not in your UI library
Just because they've fallen out of favor with design system folks, doesn't mean they're not useful!
How to customize the size of Figma embed iframes
For when the default 800x450 just doesn't cut it
20+ FigJam cursor-chat trigger words and 5 secret emotes
Spice up your FigJam communication game
I have beef with status emojis in component library Page names
The concept is useful, but I have beef with the execution.
Config 2023 Reflections
How the new features and enhancements affect my past blog posts
Should library components come with prototyping interactions? Only sometimes...
Checkboxes, yes. Radios, no.
3 reasons to use variables for validation styling (instead of variants)
reduce memory usage, improve component usability, and a third thing!
Teaching "Intro to graphic design" at American University, Fall 2023
wish me luck!
◈ Interface Representatives are the center of the Figma component universe
And understanding how they relate to the other 6 types will unlock a whole new level of workflow precision
7 types of Figma components, named and explained
You're already use first type... but what about the other 6?
4 signals that something should definitely be a component
Spoiler: almost everything you make should be a component... almost...
I cleaned up my site styles
Upgrading from willy-nilly class names to B-E-M naming conventions
What's the optimal level of detail for a wireframe?
No matter how much time you're spending on a wireframe, you need it to effectively communicate an idea. How do you optimize for fidelity?
How I organized my job searching process
If Bon Appetit asked me to do a "Making Perfect" for job searching.
There are only 3 ways to build components in Figma
The techniques are: "basic", "starter-kit", and "slot"
Methods for building and managing your Figma components
Confidently choose a building method that will benefit you in the future