There's this thing that bugs me with the current "design system" trend. Originally the term refers to a system for expressing a _specific_ design, as in an extensive styleguide. A design system ought to be a flow of rules meant to govern the appearance reflecting a brand, a vibe or character, and ensure there is a foundation to guide any kind of composition into a coherent, unified look.
Yet it has become a new synonym for something like the olden "css framework". A component library with certain extent of customisability on the very lowest level, color, typography and have a few options. Use it as your own, skip the "designing" part altogether.
But the true purpose of a design system in its original sense is to direct the layers of design above these fundamentals, to consolidate identity across all communication media used.
Maybe I'm overly conservative or opinionated here, and the word has another meaning for the web/app design community today. But i can't help but feeling like it's become a marketing buzzword for "todays Bootstraps".
I think this design system made by Zomato is just that though, a foundation and tool to communicate in a unified and consistent manner... for Zomato.
I agree with you about bootstrap, bulma, material design, etc... it seems really weird to adopt an off-the-shelf visual language. I think in most cases the convenience of doing so outweighs the the disadvantage of looking like everything else. And in other cases looking like everything else can actually be an advantage.
Yet it has become a new synonym for something like the olden "css framework". A component library with certain extent of customisability on the very lowest level, color, typography and have a few options. Use it as your own, skip the "designing" part altogether.
But the true purpose of a design system in its original sense is to direct the layers of design above these fundamentals, to consolidate identity across all communication media used.
Maybe I'm overly conservative or opinionated here, and the word has another meaning for the web/app design community today. But i can't help but feeling like it's become a marketing buzzword for "todays Bootstraps".