A fully redesigned eyedropper for UI3 now supports color variables and styles! Rotate between color formats with the Tab key — previously, that could have been changed only in the color panel. Switch between picking the raw color value or a variable/​style with a Shift key or creating and applying a new color variable/​style by using the shortcut Command-Shift. See an in-depth demo from Ana.

This update is near and dear to my heart, as I talked about color formats and working around a lack of support for styles in an eyedropper back in 2023 at Config. Love that both features are now so straightforward to use!

A few small improvements to variables, the biggest being the ability to copy and paste (but not move) variables across collections and show their values on hover. Other updates improve the authoring experience by adding new variables under selection, tabbing through fields, and resizing columns. See a video demo from Chad Bergman or read the release notes.

These improvements are very welcome, but after a year of using variables, I still rely on a mix of random plugins for most organizational tasks. My not-so-short wishlist for Config 2025: moving variables between collections and libraries, seeing where they’re used, replacing one variable with another, detecting unused variables, reviewing deleted variables still in use, and suggesting variables based on the value. Alright, 2026 might be a better target.

Component properties can now be bound to variables, unlocking the ability to use translation strings in props. Learn how to bind them together in this video by Chad Bergman or this thread by Jacob Miller.

Is this new? Very cool.

Select multiple layers in Figma Slides and apply edits to them all at once.

Time to update your calendars and make travel plans! Next year, Config is coming to San Francisco on May 6–8 and London on May 14th. Early bird tickets are already available with a 50% discount.

Nate Baldwin on the vast difference between the needs of tokens in an authoring vs. a consumption workflow: ​“We have approached design tokens from the perspective of a consumer ever since their inception. This has created a host of challenges the industry has not been able to solve. That’s because we need a perspective shift — the design tokens you consume are not the design systems you create.”

Jenny Wen on the design process: ​“The way I’ve seen great work made isn’t using any sort of design process. It’s skipping steps when we deem them unnecessary. It’s doing them out of order just for the heck of it. It’s backtracking when we’re unsatisfied. It’s changing things after we’ve handed off the design. It’s starting from the solution first. It’s operating on vibes and intuition. It’s making something just for the sake of making people smile. It’s a feeling that we nailed it. It’s knowing how to bend the process in your favor. It’s the sense to know how to keep making your work better. And it’s a clear, unwavering ideal of what good looks like.”

Joey Banks on creating responsive and robust components within Figma: ​“Creating a component in Figma is relatively easy. However, building a component that works well in various situations and for different screen widths and heights using tools like constraints and auto layout can be more challenging and intimidating. Let’s first talk about those tools and how they work within Figma, and I’ll share the techniques and practices that have helped me ensure I’m building reliable components for those depending on the system.”

A story of how Figma’s brand team audited and refreshed their website design system: ​“Our latest brand refresh proved the perfect impetus: From our new Figma Sans typeface to our revamped illustration style, we wanted to create a cohesive look that represents who we are now, and that meant bringing it to life across our website, too. This story is about our journey—but we hope that it can also serve as a catalyst for other design systems teams looking to improve their own systems. Whether you’re dealing with component sprawl, struggling with color management, or figuring out how to organize your type styles, we hope that you’ll find actionable approaches here that you can apply to your own work.”

Vijay shows how to create a cool flower illustration in a few simple steps.

“An AI assistant that does the boring stuff for you. MATE supports you in your small boring tasks, allowing you to focus on the not boring things. Ask it to rearrange elements, create a color palette, change the stroke for hundreds of items, apply random opacity to selected items, rename variables, and much more.” Watch the demo.

Figma is opening an office in Sydney, its first in Australia: ​“The​opening of Figma’s Sydney office builds on​Figma’s​impact in Australia and will help deepen relationships​with its growing local community and key​customers​, such as Telstra​and Atlassian, who is also a Figma integration partner and investor. ”