Design System Essentials

March 13, 2025

I was asked to speak at the Vercel NYC meetup with just days to prepare. Inspired by Geist, I shared a talk on building an essential design system.

My first in-person talk

Giving my first talk was a goal for 2025 — giving my second within two months was a bit of a surprise!

I’ll be forever grateful that the community speaker for the Vercel NYC Meetup had to drop out, and that I was able to step in last minute. I said yes before I even had something ready! However, I knew I couldn’t say now, especially when Kap was kind enough to invite me.

I had a blast giving this talk and am looking forward to expanding on it and giving it again.

Alt text: A speaker giving a presentation titled "Building An Essential Design System: Lessons from Vercel's Geist" to an audience in a modern conference room. The presenter stands to the right of a large screen displaying the presentation title, with a laptop and a drink on a small table beside him. The audience is seated facing the screen, attentively watching the talk. The room has light-colored walls, a window on the right, and storage cabinets on the left.

Check out my talk, Building an Essential Design System