Tweets

Tom Johnson: ​“It’s literally faster for me to build a concept inside of the actual codebase than it is to work in Figma. But the amount of versions and breadth of the final result is not up to the quality bar that I usually hold. I’m loving the speed, but the output is sloppy at times. So I’ve got this weird flow of Code → Code → Figma → Code → Figma. Repeat, reorder, etc. The issue is that the transition from Figma → code with their MCP is solid. […] But code → Figma… is a terrible flow.”

I often spend more time recreating a particular screen in Figma than actually designing the change. I’ve been beating on the Code Connect drum for a while as it has huge potential for connecting design and code components. Even though it was built to translate components from Figma to code, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work in reverse. Code Connect was announced almost two years ago (way before LLMs and MCPs got powerful), but because it’s locked behind Organization and Enterprise plans, it’s rarely discussed in the community or considered by plugin and tool makers.

Luis took on a noble goal of making a reliable UI kit for React Aria. I enjoy following his process even while I don’t use the actual UI library.

Dylan Field argues that AI will generate more of the short‑lived, simple artifacts in software and design, while humans will remain central for long‑lasting, high‑impact work where craft and intention matter most.

Ryo replies: ​“Code isn’t a cage, it’s the only material that’s actually boundless. You can rebuild, restructure, and reimagine faster than any other medium in human history. The idea that working in code locks you into existing patterns is only true if you’re afraid of the material. […] Sketches and explorations feel free because they let you avoid the hard questions. Building forces you to answer them, and that’s where you discover what actually works.”

Ryo Lu replies: ​“Great tools should unify, not fragment. They should connect the designer’s canvas with the builder’s editor, connect the writer’s outline with the team’s roadmap, and let patterns repeat and evolve across everything instead of trapping them in separate silos. Designers can build. Builders can design. The old line between ​“design tools” and ​“dev tools” is an artifact of the software we had, not the people we are.”

Karri Saarinen reacts to the announcement of a visual editor in Cursor: ​“Whenever a designer becomes more of a builder, some idealism and creativity dies. Not because building is bad, but because you start out including constraints earlier in the process than they should. […] People forget that the creative process is not about tools. It’s about forming a vision, and then translating that vision into some form.”

10 years since Figma launched on December 3rd, 2015. Congrats on a big anniversary!

More Variable modes for people on Pro and Org plans. Instead of 4 modes, Pro plans now offer 10 and Org plans 20.

It’s wild how long it takes to build some of these larger features. Jacob Miller, a Product Manager for the Design Systems and AI team at Figma, shares an early exploration for slots from 3 years ago! I’ve been begging Jacob for slots at this year’s Config and got a feeling that they’re already working on it, but still it will be launched only next year.

If you wonder why it’s taking so long, Jacob wrote an insightful reply on how his team approaches these changes: ​“With design systems features, we have to plan them years in advance. Things like components, variables, and styles are used on the order of billions — one wrong move will result in breaking files and ruining critical design work. We have to be methodical. […] With DS features, I’m usually planning them around 3 years in advance.”

If you’re curious how slots and other new features will work, check out Jacob’s AMA.

Tom Johnson has an in-depth thread on how dithering works, how it breaks, and some tools to get it to look best.

The official Figma MCP server now supports Gemini CLI, OpenAI Codex, and Atlassian is coming soon.

Tommy Geoco shows his workflow for building Lorelight with Figma and Claude Code.

Figma Make is pretty great for building custom diagrams for your research.

Another use case for Connectors is pushing code from Figma Make to a GitHub repository, which can be used as a project backup or source for deployment to your preferred hosting platform. Future updates to the Make file can be manually pushed to the repository. Connectors will become available later in October.

Dylan Field shows the new Figma app in ChatGPT in action with the tech tree generated out to the year 2100.

An early preview version of the new monospace font from Paper, based on Geist Mono from Vercel.

The Cut tool allows you to precisely divide vector objects and shapes into separate objects. When editing a vector, select the Cut tool and either click and drag to slice an object or click on a point to split the vector. Don’t miss a little fun interaction detail that Rogie and Tim sneaked in.

Dylan Field shows a couple of projects he built in Figma Make with pre-release Sonnet 4.5. He notes that the new model is very good at planning and was able to precisely transform a Figma design into a functional code with a single prompt.

Tasteful isometric illustrations made in Figma Draw by Shreya Rao.

Another demo of using the new MCP server with Claude Code.