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How to Use Symbols and Styles for Consistency in Sketch
Edited 1 hour ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team
SketchSymbolsStylesReusabilityEfficiencyDesign SystemUIComponentsWorkflowTools
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Sketch is a powerful tool widely used in the design industry to create user interfaces, websites, and mobile application designs. Among its many features, symbols and styles are important, providing designers a way to maintain consistency and streamline the designing process. By understanding how to use symbols and styles, designers can significantly increase their workflow efficiency and ensure their designs remain coherent and consistent.
Understanding symbols in Sketch
Symbols in Sketch are reusable design elements or groups of elements that can be reused throughout your design. Think of symbols as templates; when you make a change to a symbol, all instances of that symbol are automatically updated. This allows you to maintain consistency throughout your design without the need for repetitive updates.
Creating symbols
To create a symbol in Sketch, follow these steps:
- Select the element or group of elements you want to turn into a symbol.
- Go to the "Layer" menu and choose "Create Symbol," or simply press
Command + Option + S. - A dialog box will appear asking you to name your symbol. Give a meaningful name that you can easily remember.
- Choose where you want to save the symbol in your document. You can keep it on the same page or move it to a new symbol page.
- Click "Create" to turn your selection into a symbol.
Use of symbols
Once you've created a symbol, it's simple to use it throughout your design:
- Drag it from the Symbols page or Library to the artboard you want.
- Copy and paste symbol instances to different artboards as needed.
- To modify a symbol, simply double-click on it. This will take you to the master version of the symbol where you can make changes that will be visible in all instances.
Nested icons
One of the advanced features of symbols is nesting. A nested symbol is a symbol that is placed inside another symbol. This can be useful for creating complex components made up of several smaller symbols.
Styles in Sketch
Styles in Sketch refer to shared styles that can be applied to text and layers. Like symbols, styles ensure consistency by allowing you to apply the same look to different design elements.
Creating text styles
Text styles allow you to apply consistent typography settings to all your text layers. Here's how you can create and apply a text style:
- Select a text layer and set its font, size, color, and other printing properties.
- After selecting the text layer, click the "Create Text Style" button in the Inspector.
- Enter a name for your text style, such as "Heading 1" or "Body Text."
- Now the newly created text styles can be applied to any other text layers by selecting them and choosing the style from the dropdown menu in the Inspector.
Creating layer styles
Like text styles, layer styles are reusable patterns that can be applied to shape layers or groups.
- Customize a shape or layer with fills, borders, and shadows.
- Click the "Create Layer Style" button in the Inspector.
- Give your layer style a descriptive name to help you remember its purpose.
- To apply this style to new or existing layers, select them and then choose the style from the dropdown menu in the Inspector.
Benefits of using symbols and styles
Consistency and efficiency are the hallmarks of a good design process. Symbols and styles in Sketch provide a strong framework for maintaining these qualities in your design work.
Increased stability
Using symbols and styles helps ensure that your design is consistent across different pages and multiple projects. This consistency is important for creating a coherent user experience. Designers can achieve a uniform look across buttons, icons, typography, and other repeated elements, giving the final design a polished, professional look.
Efficiency and speed
Symbols and styles greatly reduce the time it takes to make updates to a design. Instead of changing each instance of a design element or text style individually, you can make adjustments to a symbol or style, which automatically updates every instance in your design.
Collaboration and scalability
Working with symbols and styles makes collaboration a seamless process. When designers are working within a team, using a consistent set of symbols and styles means that all team members are on the same page and speaking the same design language. Additionally, this practice makes scaling your designs for larger projects or additional platforms much simpler and manageable.
Best practices
To maximize the efficacy of symbols and styles, consider the following best practices:
Plan your symbols and styles
Before you begin your design, plan which elements will become symbols and what styles you will need. This preparation helps organize your assets and reduce redundancy. Understanding your project's requirements will guide you in creating a comprehensive set of symbols and styles.
Organize and name consistently
As your symbol and style library grows, it's important to keep them organized. Use descriptive names that clearly indicate the purpose or use of the symbol or style. Group related symbols and styles together in a logical structure to make navigation easier.
Use a library for shared components
Sketch offers a feature called Library where you can store symbols and styles that can be shared across different documents. This feature is especially useful when you work in teams or when different projects share common design components.
Routine maintenance
Review and update your symbols and styles regularly to ensure they still meet your project's needs. As your design evolves or new design trends emerge, you may need to make adjustments to keep your design system up-to-date.
Conclusion
Symbols and styles in Sketch are invaluable tools that contribute significantly to a designer's toolkit. By providing a way to reuse design elements and maintain consistent styling across projects, they save time, ensure uniformity, and make team collaboration more efficient. When used effectively, these features can enhance the quality and cohesion of your design work.
Understanding and mastering symbols and styles will give you the efficiency and consistency you need to deliver high-quality design results. By incorporating these elements thoughtfully and strategically into your design process, you can streamline your workflow and focus more on creativity and innovation.
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