133. Garth Braithwaite on Design Tokens, Governance, and Scaling Spectrum at Adobe

Send us feedback or episode suggestions. The design token nerds are taking over the pod! In this episode, guest host Christopher Bloom sits down with Garth Braithwaite, Lead Senior Staff Design Engineer at Adobe, for a deep dive into the inner workings of Spectrum’s design tokens. Garth shares how Adobe manages the complexity of scaling a multi-platform design system, and how thoughtful collaboration across teams builds real value for users. They get into the weeds on cross-team communication, naming conventions, accessibility, versioning, and Garth’s own front-end manifesto. If you’re building, scaling, or just geeking out over design tokens—this one’s pure gold. View the transcript of this episode. Check out our upcoming events. If you want to get in touch with the show, ask some questions, or tell us what you think, send us a message over on LinkedIn. Guest Garth Braithwaite is a Lead Senior Staff Design Engineer at Adobe, where he plays a key role in maintaining the Spectrum design system. With a background in both design and engineering, Garth brings a unique perspective to scaling design systems and improving workflows across teams. Host Christopher Bloom is a Principal Front-end Engineer at Knapsack. He"s a design system nerd, avid mountain biker, and all-around ball of insight and energy. Sponsor Sponsored by Knapsack, the digital production platform that brings teams together. Learn more at knapsack.cloud.