A colleague and I discussed the relationship between a company's visual identity and their product's “look and feel”. Does your design systems team own your product's visual language? Do they partner with another team responsible for that? Or something else entirely?

🧵 Sure — say a brand team or agency defines the principles behind a visual identity. For example, Pentagram rebranded Reddit using these traits: inherently eclectic, positively different, delightfully absurd, and genuinely candid.(pentagram.com/work/reddit/st…)

Reddit — Story

Brand identity transformation for the “heart of the internet.”

pentagram.com

Those principles are then reflected in the company's product. Color palette, typography, shape, and layout point back to those traits (a typically captured in a design system). But who does the work to translate a brand's principles into a product's visual language?

and typically captured in a design system*

I've seen it a couple different ways, and I was curious what others have experienced. 1. Design system team explores, tests, and establishes the visual language (as well as maintain the system). 2. Another team sits between brand & system, and handles explorations & concepts.

Agreed. There’s visionaries & overseers. Visionaries create the blueprint & steer where the brand is going. Overseers are responsible for translating the visionaries’ vision/language into plans of action. They ensure compliance on all projects prior to going live.