Joey Banks with a deep dive on applying and organizing variables in Figma: “…if there’s one thing I’ve learned about variables, it’s that nearly every team takes a slightly different approach when it comes to creating and keeping them organized in Figma. I’d love to recap the many ways I use variables within the components and libraries I make, as well as some of the techniques and decision frameworks that have helped me most, and share with you how I approach creating and keeping them all organized, too.”

James McDonald shared a design file of his recent project with a few cool effects.

Turns out, you can copy text styles from the selected text!

Smart technique and a cool effect! Blur is a power tool in capable hands.

The beta of UI3 is now available to everyone. Check out this list of changes made after hearing the feedback.

Tailwind Sync is a free plugin for Figma that synchronizes variables to Tailwind code, enhancing the design-to-dev handoff with speed, consistency, and scalability.

Mizko explains how to use Sections when prototyping in Figma: ​“When presenting your final output with Sections, Figma remembers the user’s last viewed frame. This ensures that when the user returns, it will show the previously viewed frame first. This creates a more comprehensible transition of your prototype.”

Jenny Xie interviewed Marcin Wichary, Joel Miller, Ryhan Hassan, and KC Oh about the new Figma UI: ​“Our goal with UI3 is to keep designers in the flow by minimizing distractions and placing their work center stage. With that north star in mind, our team worked for over two years, iterating on myriad approaches — even reversing some core design decisions, like the floating navigation and properties panels, after launch.”

In the past, the file browser and the community files required different thumbnail aspect ratios. Now, it’s standardized at 16:9 across Figma files, FigJam, and Figma Slides.

Figma added iPhone 16 (including Pro, Pro Max, and Plus), Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm and 46mm), and Android (Compact, Medium, Expanded) to the Frames menu. If you need vector iPhone 16 device frames for the prototyping, Keeyen published the community file with different models and colors.

Joey Banks shows one of the newly announced features. When objects are duplicated, rotated, and then duplicated again, Figma will continue that rotation with subsequent copies of your object.

Kaitie Chambers and Miggi kicked off the first episode of monthly Release Notes, where they dropped new features and recapped everything shipped in September. Readers of this newsletter will be already familiar with most of the changes, but there are some new things worth covering. 

UI3 rolls out for everyone on October 10th. The biggest change in the final version is the return of fixed panels — Figma listened to the feedback from the design community and closed the gaps. The panels still float when the Minimize UI (Shift-\) mode is turned on. Other changes include the always visible Auto Layout pixel values along the resize modes, the layer header showing 3 reorganized actions by default and one more when the panel is wider on larger screens, and showing the component library info in the component properties panel. It’s now even easier to set the Auto Layout object’s width and height to Fill Container or Hug Contents via the quick actions menu (Cmd-K) or a custom macOS shortcut.

After research or brainstorming sessions, FigJam stickies can now be sorted by color, author, stamp count, or stamp type in addition to the previously announced FigJam AI. Figma Slides now supports custom slide deck templates, which can even be published in the community. Slides are now viewable on your mobile device, so you can view and join a presentation from anywhere. 

“Specifically designed for creatives, this plugin lets you apply stunning dithering effects to any image. Fine-tune details, add noise, adjust brightness, and enhance glow. With support for algorithms like Floyd-Steinberg, Bayer ordering, Atkinson, and noise dithering, it’s the perfect tool for creators looking to craft unique, dynamic visuals.”

Gary Simon makes a controversial case for not using grids in design. My 2 cents: grids help reduce the number of decisions you need to make, and maintaining a large set of mockups laid out with guides instead of Auto Layout sounds like a nightmare. That said, I think grids and Auto Layout should be added after figuring out the right direction, spacing, and hierarchy, not in the beginning.

My personal Figma account is on UI3, but I spend most of my days in a work account stuck on UI2. Surely I’m not the only one in this boat who found switching between two UIs quite distracting. Can’t wait to start using UI3 in my daily work.

Describing design details with plain text is a nice way to communicate the intent to developers.

You can now rename files in the desktop app by double-clicking the tab name.

Jake made a plugin that brings the power of CSS color-mix() into Figma. Use it to generate swatches, variable ramps, and solid or gradient fills. I highly recommend watching Jake’s video if you’re unfamiliar with this CSS notation.

I look forward to the next release of Supa Palette with support for OKLCH and reusable configs!

A note to app developers: ​“We’re releasing a new embed kit that gives you more control and flexibility over how you embed Figma in your website or app.”