ART 418 15: Design Systems

Monday, October 19, 2026 · Workshop

What a design system is, from the NASA manual to the files an AI tool reads today; who in a business uses one and why it pays; how systems get better in loops, with sketches and prototypes; and the starter repository read as a design system for one brand. Then the repository comes back: the brief, the moodboards, and the updated deck go in first, one direction gets chosen out of the Milestone 2 notes, and the first rules go into the repository before you leave.

Due

- The direction and the first rules.

Assigned today

- The rules, written for a machine, due Wednesday, October 28, 2026. - Reading for Brand Systems: Tokens and Rules, read by Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Materials

- [The slides](/lecture/art418-s15.html). Design systems and their parts, where they came from, who in a business uses them, iterative design and prototyping, the starter repo as a brand system an AI tool can work inside, and today's direction and first rules. - [The slides as a PDF](/lecture/art418-s15.pdf). The same deck, one slide per page. - [The starter repo](https://github.com/workhorse/brand-project-starter). If you can't find your repository, make a new one from this template, set it to Private, and add your instructor. The README has the steps.

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Class 15 of 28, ART 418, The Business of Design, Charleston Southern University, Fall 2026.