stylems
Stylems is a term used in digital design and software development to refer to a modular style management system that coordinates visual properties across applications through design tokens. It describes a family of approaches and tooling rather than a single standard. In this model, visual attributes such as color, typography, spacing, and elevation are stored as tokens in a central repository and are consumed by multiple platforms and codebases to ensure consistency and rapid theming.
Core concepts include design tokens, which encode visual decisions in a machine-readable form, and token formats
Architecture and workflow typically involve designers defining tokens in a single source of truth, while developers
Adoption of stylems concepts is widespread within design systems and design-token ecosystems, with multiple open-source and
See also: design tokens, design system, theming, CSS variables, style guide.