Designing at scale requires flexibility, efficiency, and a well-structured system to manage variables across your projects. Whether you’re working on responsive layouts, managing seasonal themes, or creating a unified design system, keeping things organized can quickly become overwhelming.
Enter Variable Modes—a powerful new feature from Webflow that makes scalable design systems easier to manage and apply across your site. With variable modes, you can create sets of variable values that can be easily switched and applied, streamlining your design workflows like never before.
Variable modes allow you to define multiple values for a single variable, grouping these values into distinct “modes”. These modes can then be easily toggled and applied across your site, reducing the need for repetitive variable creation and manual adjustments.
Whether it’s ensuring responsive consistency across devices or applying different design themes, variable modes are here to transform the way you manage your design systems.
With variable modes, you can set specific values for breakpoints like Tablet, Mobile Landscape, and Mobile Portrait. Instead of adjusting styles manually at each breakpoint, your variables will automatically apply the appropriate values, ensuring a seamless and polished experience across all devices.
For example:
• Define a “Spacing” variable with 16px for Desktop, 12px for Tablet, and 8px for Mobile Portrait.
• Update the variable globally, and it will automatically adjust at all breakpoints.
No more hunting through styles or duplicating efforts—responsive design has never been easier.
Variable modes enable you to create and manage multiple design themes effortlessly. You can set up a primary theme for your brand and additional modes for special occasions, such as a holiday-themed mode.
For instance:
• Brand Primary: Standard colors, typography, and spacing for everyday use.
• Winter Holiday: Festive colors and styles for seasonal promotions.
Switch between these modes seamlessly to apply themes to specific pages, sections, or elements.
As your design system grows, keeping variables organized can be a challenge. Variable modes allow you to group variables into custom collections like “Color Palettes” or “Typography.”
This ensures:
For example, organize your typography variables into collections for headers, body text, and captions, making them easy to locate and manage.
Variable modes are rolling out to all Webflow customers over the coming days. Whether you’re a designer working solo or part of a larger team, this feature is designed to fit seamlessly into your workflow and elevate your design efficiency.
Variable Modes unlock new possibilities for creating scalable, responsive, and theme-driven designs. By reducing the number of variables you need to manage and making it easier to apply design changes site-wide, this update ensures you spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time crafting exceptional user experiences.
Ready to take your design systems to the next level? Log in to Webflow today and explore the power of Variable Modes!
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