How to create a sketch style guide, library, and UI kit

Every design project can benefit from a well-thought-out styling guide. Use this tutorial to create a UI kit, as well as create a custom (and reusable) library for fast prototyping.

Whether you are an expert in sketches or new to sketching, designers will find that creating style guides in sketches can be a valuable resource for their design tools, which can save a lot of time.

The style guide not only helps keep things consistent but also allows for updates to elements such as colors and icons in multiple documents with minimal hassle. This tutorial goes through the step-by-step process of creating style guides and UI kits and will provide designers with a better understanding of sketch symbols, refer to the sketch library for their design, and build confidence in the organization of their design assets. 

Create your own style guide

According to UXPin, the Style Guide is a comprehensive 'living document' that traces all the recurring elements of the project, from the rules of the market to the amount of clutter of call to action buttons. A style guide can cover everything from simple visual elements to words and an approved image. This tutorial covers Organization, Colors, Icons, Fonts, Text Styles, and Assets.

Step 1: Organization

Create a master folder to hold sketch files, plugins, and other essential assets such as fonts and iconography. (Plugins will be discussed at the end of this tutorial.)

Start a new sketch file and name it "Client Name Library". For example, if your client is Toptal, your file name should be "Toptal Library".

Step 2: Color

If the colors have already been selected, the next step is to convert your colors into symbols.

To do this, make squares of the same size and change their colors accordingly. Click "Create Symbol" and save these elements with the color / name_name label system. Color / @ pink, color / @ background-gray, or color / F FFFFF are examples of good labels. Naming conventions are important for setting up a style guide, so a format for everything should be established and followed from the beginning.

When done, add them to the style guide page.

Save the color clock to the document section of your color palette.