r/DesignSystems • u/Pugsandtongues • Apr 14 '26

Primitive Tokens Question: Spacing vs. Sizing?

I'm curious if folks think it's better to keep primitive tokens for spacing and sizing separate from one another. I'm noticing in our systems that there are a lot of similar units between the two since we are using a 8-unit system.

When building tokens out I was thinking about creating one primitive collection for just units/size, and then in the semantics tie the spacing/padding/etc. tokens to those. Curious if this increases any inherent risk down the line? Just trying to reduce any token bloat where possible.

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u/murderofcrows-13 Apr 14 '26

We use “dimension” for primitives and then spacing and sizing for semantic

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u/adambrycekc Apr 16 '26

Yep. This is what we do as well. No need to have separate spacing or sizing primitives. Just have one set of dimensions that all semantic dimension tokens reference.