Kim Lawlor

Design System

One system across products, themes and screen sizes

A shared design system that separates semantic colour, component structure and density, allowing complex financial software to adapt across themes, accessibility modes and product contexts without rebuilding the interface from scratch.

One system, two layers

One layer carries semantic colour, the other carries geometry and type. Both sit on the same components: every specimen below is identical markup, and the only difference between any two is data-theme or data-density on an ancestor.

Colour scopeCarries semantic colour
Light
Dark
CVD
DensityCarries geometry and type
Compact
Dense desktop workspace
Comfortable
Roomier product contexts
1Foundation

Raw values. Nothing in a component points here.

2Semantic

Roles, not colours. The only layer a scope moves.

3Component

Families own their states, and never branch on theme.

4Product

Two attributes on an ancestor. Everything below inherits.

350 base tokens · 3 colour scopes · 2 densities

Colour changes. Meaning does not.

CVD replaces the red-green pair with blue and amber while keeping meaning explicit in text and state. Of the 210 tokens it redefines, only 103 differ from Dark. This portfolio preview strengthens the palette further to meet WCAG AA contrast.

Colour scope
Positive#8CBCF0system #5480BA
Negative#E5A954system #A16B32
Buy#14293Esystem #0F1E2E
Sell#3A2611system #311F0B

Density changes the interface without changing the component

Both sides are the same markup. Type scale, control height, row height and radius move together; not one semantic role changes.

CompactDesktop trading workspace
Text 13 / 16Control 24pxRow 28pxRadius 2px
ComfortableResearch Hub, and any touch surface
Text 14 / 20Control 32pxRow 32pxRadius 4px

Comfortable density currently carries light-specific surface values, so it is used in supported product contexts rather than combined with every colour scope.

Five families, same system

Each one is here because it proves something different about the system, not to fill a catalogue.

Colour scope
Density
Button

Hierarchy through semantic roles

Input

Four states, no opacity tricks

Dropdown

Order-type semantics, one component

Status tag

Text first, colour second

Table

Same rows, different density

Shared rules, different contexts

The same tokens and the same components, consumed at different settings.

Quotestream Web

Compact density, across all three colour scopes.

Research Hub

Comfortable density on the same semantic foundation, in a light-surface context.

Touch contexts

Comfortable density where the responsive system documents it.