Tools

When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail

There are many amazing tools for building things on the web. Here are a few I have found handy in building this design system along with other projects.

Eleventy

Eleventy is the handy simple static site generator that powers this very site. It’s very fast, pretty simple to implement, and just works without a bunch of fuss. It has also joined forces with …

Font Awesome is generally the first place I look for icons when starting on new projects. I have supported several of their Kickstarter projects, including their most recent (Web Awesome) even though I’m building my own design system.

Netlify

Netlify does all kinds of really powerful development things, but for me, it’s a very handy way to update a static site by pushing updates to a repository.

SVGOMG

Whenever I need to use an SVG for any project, I always take the time to optimize it using SVGOMG. Created and maintained by Jake Archibald.

Utopia

Utopia is a fantastic tool for creating more fluid responsive design that intelligently adapts spacing and type upward or downward in size based on the available viewport. It is supported by the fine folks at Clearleft.

Page updated on Aug 4, 2025