Figma Components: Building Brand Assets

1. What are Components?

At its core, a component system in Figma is built on two parts:

• Main Component: This is the "master" or "template" element. It has a special purple, four-diamond icon in the Layers panel. Any changes you make to the Main Component will automatically apply to all its copies.
• Instance: This is a linked copy of the Main Component. It has a single, hollow purple diamond icon. You can have hundreds of instances of one component throughout your design file.

Think of it like a function in programming: you define the function once (the Main Component), and you can call it many times throughout your code (the Instances). If you update the function's logic, all the places where it's called will reflect that change.

This video from Flux Academy provides a great introduction to this concept.

2. Creating Your First Component: The Logo

Let's start with a simple and practical application: your "Aura Coffee" logo.

1. Navigate to the page in your Figma file where you have your final logo design (the logomark and logotype grouped together).
2. Select the group that contains all the elements of your primary logo.
3. In the toolbar at the top of the screen, click the Create Component icon (the four diamonds). Alternatively, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + K (Windows) or Cmd + Option + K (macOS).

You'll see the outline of your logo group turn purple. In the Layers panel, its icon will change to the four-diamond Main Component icon. Congratulations, you've made your first component!

Now, let's see it in action:

1. Go to the Assets panel in the top-left (it's next to the Layers panel). You should see your new logo component listed under "Local components".
2. Drag an instance of your logo from the Assets panel onto your canvas.
3. Now, go back and select the Main Component. Make a small change, for example, slightly change the color of the logotype.
4. Look at your instance—it updated automatically!

This is the power of components. If this logo were used on 50 different designs (a website, a business card, a menu), you would only need to edit it in one place to update it everywhere.

3. Creating a Button Component with Variants

Buttons are the perfect subject for learning about the full power of components because they often have multiple states and styles. We'll now create a button for "Aura Coffee" and turn it into a versatile component with different variants.

Variants are different versions of a component that live within a single component set. For example, a button can have variants for its state (default, hover, pressed) or its style (primary, secondary).

Step 3.1: Build the Basic Button

First, let's design the button itself. This will be good practice for using Auto Layout.

After following those steps, you should have a single, well-styled button. Now, select your button frame and click the Create Component icon to turn it into a Main Component, just like you did with the logo.

Step 3.2: Create Variants and Properties

A single button component is useful, but what if you need a version for when a user hovers over it? Or a secondary style with just an outline? This is where variants and properties come in.

• Variants: Different visual states (e.g., Default vs. Hover).
• Component Properties: Dynamic controls for an instance, like changing its text (Text property) or toggling an icon's visibility (Boolean property).

This next video is a detailed walkthrough of how to build out a button component with these features. We'll apply these concepts to your "Aura Coffee" button.

Your Task:

Apply the techniques from the video to your "Aura Coffee" button component:

1. Select your main button component. On the right-hand Design panel, you'll see a section for Properties. Click the + icon and select Variant.
2. Figma will create a copy of your button inside a purple dashed line. This is now a component set.
3. Create State Variants:
   • Rename the default property from "Property 1" to "State".
   • The first variant's State should be "Default".
   • Select the second variant. In the Design panel, change its State to "Hovered".
   • Change the appearance of the "Hovered" variant slightly (e.g., make the fill color a bit darker) to give visual feedback.
4. Create a Text Property:
   • In your Main Component, select the text layer inside both variants.
   • In the Content section of the Design panel (on the right), click the "Create text property" icon.
   • Name it "Label" and keep the default value. Click "Create property".
5. Now, drag an instance of your button onto the canvas. You'll see a dropdown to switch between "Default" and "Hovered" states, and a text field to change the "Label"!

This is the workflow for creating a powerful, flexible design system. A well-built button component set can look quite extensive, but it's all built from these same principles.

Conclusion

Fantastic work today! You've moved beyond static design elements and have started building a dynamic, intelligent design system. This is a huge leap in workflow efficiency and is a core skill that employers and clients look for.

Key Takeaways:

• Components consist of a Main Component (the master) and Instances (the copies).
• Changes to the Main Component propagate to all instances, ensuring consistency.
• Variants are used to create different versions of a component based on its state or style (e.g., hover, primary/secondary).
• Component Properties (like Text and Boolean properties) allow you to customize instances without detaching them from the main component.

In our next lesson, you'll immediately put these new skills to use. The learning outcome is to design a business card applying the established brand identity. You'll be able to drag instances of your new logo and button components right into your design, saving time and ensuring everything is perfectly on-brand.