Building a Multi-Brand Design System with Tailwind: Tips, Tricks, and Tradeoffs
Back in April, I gave a talk at Syd JS about lessons learned while using Tailwind to build a design system. While I’ve been a Tailwind fan for years (since version 0.5.2!), this was my first time applying it to a design system since joining Thinkmill. The process challenged me to rethink a few things.
Fun fact: I’m pretty sure the first time I heard about Thinkmill was through Tailwind super-fan (and now friend) Simon Swiss. Without Tailwind, I don’t think I’d be working at Thinkmill today!
The talk itself was just 25 minutes — too short to dive into the deeper, more in-the-weeds details that I hadn’t seen covered elsewhere. To fill in those gaps, I wrote a companion piece which you can find on the Thinkmill blog. It’s a hefty read, clocking in at over 3,200 words, so grab a coffee (or your beverage of choice) and get comfy cause it might be a while!
If you find the talk or the article useful, I’d love to hear your thoughts! You can reach out on Bluesky or via email. And if your team needs help with a design system, I can’t recommend Thinkmill enough.