Practice, a book on design and craft by Figma
What does it take to master craft? Patience, precision, and a willingness to push boundaries.
The print edition, which launched at Config 2025, was designed by design studio Other Means, in collaboration with type designer Kia Tasbihgou.
Read our previous issues: The Prompt (2024) and The Playbook (2023).
Figma Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field sat down with Garry Tan to chat about the idea maze, vibe coding, and preserving craft even when the models are “cooking.” Read more
Creating something of value takes practice. It takes reps. It requires starting somewhere and working your way through it. Trying and failing. Learning from someone better than you. Taking risks. It’s in this spirit that we chose the theme of craft—what it means to make with intention—as the third installment of our annual Config magazine. As Figma Co-founder and CEO Dylan Field explains, “The question is not just, can you make it work? It’s how it works that actually matters.”
The team at Other Means was inspired by Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris' anti-industrialist approach to bookmaking. Kelmscott Press was defined by the pursuit of “exceptional intrinsic quality and artistic taste.”
This core theme guided both content development and design direction, which graphic design studio Other Means brought to life in a visual identity that explores craft as technical mastery. Their approach reimagines design elements like initial caps, fleurons, and decorative borders in a contemporary way, while dropcaps from type designer Kia Tasbihgou nod to the historical typesetting tradition. Traditional details anchor the articles, interviews, and essays from the Story Studio team in a bookish format.
In this way, we embrace how craft is both rooted in tradition and driven by innovation, drawing on the past for inspiration while embracing new technologies. While many of our contributors work in the world of screens, pixels, and data, they share a kinship with designers and makers across disciplines. Below, the articles from Practice demonstrate how the universal elements of craft—patience, observation, and intentionality—transcend the medium.
Practice is not just a book—it’s a font, too. We designed a typeface that extends the dropcaps featured in the book into a full alphabet of distinct characters, and built a type specimen on Figma Sites to showcase it.
On the adaptation of craft
Behind anything that is well made is someone who has deeply committed to making it so. These articles follow makers who found creative ways to translate physical mediums into a digital world.
The National Park Service goes from paper to pixels
To design an app that’s flexible enough to span 431 national parks and monuments, a small team adapts the Unigrid design system that Massimo Vignelli created for the NPS in 1977.
DIY zines meet the digital age
From an underground music zine, to album art and independent radio, to risograph printing, creatives are bringing Figma into once-analog spaces. Along the way, they’re finding new ways to connect to their communities.
A new pattern for quilt design
Former product designer Nicole Boettcher now designs quilts using the tool she knows best—giving whole new meaning to drawing rectangles in Figma.
Designer Advocate Laura Fehre has a vision for a digital nail salon, but “nailing” that vision means letting go of perfection and letting herself play.
On the iteration of craft
A product is defined by the many iterations and explorations that didn’t make it into the final result. These stories zoom in on the creative process, revealing how a beautifully crafted thing is invariably a symphony of minute details.
Finding the right illustrator can feel a lot like being a casting director for a movie. We listen in as two Figma brand designers discuss their approach to art direction, which is a balancing act of guiding and trusting.
The story of creating Figma Sans
Last year, we launched a new typeface as part of a wide-ranging brand refresh. The team behind the opinioned grotesque reveals its evolution and how the difference is in the details.
Three ways Figma explored horizontal scrolling
A seemingly straightforward request presents unexpected challenges for design and engineering. Here’s how the team iterated and prototyped to help users orient themselves on the canvas.
How a UX writer weighs one word against another
In UX design, a single misplaced verb can lead users astray, creating frustration and confusion. UX Writer Henry Freedland breaks down how the team clarified a new prototyping feature with some carefully chosen words.
How we built AI search in Figma
Designers spend an inordinate amount of time looking for existing designs to riff on. Building an AI-powered search tool meant going deep on their workflows, rapidly iterating, optimizing for quality, and collaborating across disciplines.
On the application of craft
Even the most experienced makers can benefit from building structure and intention into their practice. From sharpening your storytelling to designing quality products, these pieces offer practical ways to uplevel your craft.
Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in product development. Director of Product Management at YouTube Studio Ebi Atawodi shares a quick and simple framework for writing a vision statement.
How to unlock writing that works
Effective storytelling bridges the gap between imagination and reality, but most of us get stuck knowing where and how to start. Whether you’re writing a simple Slack message or a PRD, this guide will help you take the first step.
Whether you call it a critique, a review, or just a quick gut check, we all have our preferred ways of getting feedback on work. For Figma’s engineering team, the answer lies somewhere between a technical review and a design critique.
10 rules for crafting products that stand out
In a crowded market, quality is a key differentiator. Linear Co-founder and CEO Karri Saarinen shares how he operationalizes craft and empowers his team to trust their intuition—even if it means ignoring the data.
We love our PRDs and product development frameworks, but in an ever-evolving landscape, the only constant is change. Here, we share guidance on how to pivot, when to take a more fluid approach, and why the best roadmaps are loosely held.
On the value of craft
These final stories focus on craft’s ability to make us feel—and the power it has to leave a profound impact on those who experience it.
When Atlassian faced productivity challenges, they put “developer joy” at the center of their strategy. This approach became their north star metric for success—and transformed not just code quality, but company performance.
Putting resonance on the roadmap
In the fight for user love, it’s not features but emotions that create lasting loyalty. Figma Head of Insights Andrew Hogan shares why design decisions—copy that clarifies, motion that delights, sounds that soothe, haptics that respond—are what really drive deep meaning.
Making space for a handmade web
In a sea of websites, Figma Product Designer Chia Amisola believes the internet is more constrained than ever. Here, they make the case for a more personal and expressive approach.
As part of this project, we asked members of the design community to share an artifact that embodies craft—something that speaks to their understanding of what it means to make with intention.
As we move into a new era of creativity—one where AI accelerates workflows and expands possibilities—craft will matter more than ever. It’s what makes the difference between automation and artistry, between something functional and something truly well made.
