Learn how to use AI & design systems together to create great digital products at scale.
This course is for anyone invested in the success of digital products at your organization. Whether you're a designer, developer, product owner, manager, or leader, you'll learn how AI & design systems work together to help you create better digital products. The course blends foundational concepts with practical, in-the-weeds instruction to help you level up your skills and understanding. By taking this course, you'll:
Cut through the AI hype and confidently understand and navigate this fast-moving, noisy AI landscape.
Understand design systems' evolving role as critical infrastructure for this new AI era.
Become an expert in how AI and design systems work together to help your organization build great digital products.
Accelerate your AI & design systems journey by receiving sample architecture, demonstrations, and real-world applications.
Transform your team's workflow to gain efficiency and effectiveness without sacrificing product quality.
Unlock designer/developer collaboration, closing the gap between design and development by using shared context, language, and infrastructure
Save time, money, and agony by learning how to synchonize environments, disciplines, tools, and assets.
Course Structure
This self-paced course features in-depth videos covering both high-level concepts and practical instruction to help your team wield AI & design systems together.
Chapter 0
Completewelcome & overview
Meet your teachers, get the lay of the land, and understand the course's philosophy, principles, values, and approach. Set yourself up for everything that follows.
Chapter 1
Completecore concepts
Get the 30,000-foot view: a brief history of UI design/development and AI. Then learn how AI & design systems combine into a potent one-two punch for delivering quality at speed.
Chapter 2
Completeenvironments & tools setup
Get operational. Demystify how to install and configure LLMs, AI-powered IDEs, Figma, Node, Git, API keys, MCPs, and more so you have everything ready to rock and roll.
Chapter 3
In Progressmake better design systems with ai
Use AI to assess, normalize, translate, synchronize, and document your design system's ingredients. Create a sturdy, reliable, and accessible infrastructure that AI can actually use.
Chapter 4
In Progressmake better products with ai & design systems
Use AI with your rock-solid design system to help teams design, develop, and collaborate more effectively to ship higher-quality work faster.
Chapter 5
In Progressinventing the next generation of UX
Look beyond traditional workflows to what's newly possible: generative UI, real-time interfaces, hyper-personalization, context-based experiences, and the creative infinite.
Chapter 6
operationalizing ai & design systems
Adopt this work inside real organizations. Navigate security, privacy, politics, processes, and approvals; build a rollout strategy that meets your team where it is.
Chapter 7
maintaining & navigating change
The landscape doesn't sit still. Build the architectures, attitudes, and governance practices that provide a core foundation for your team to build on as everything keeps changing.
Plus
🔥🔥🔥🔥community & resources
Beyond the videos: a Slack community of passionate practitioners, biweekly live Jam Sessions with TJ, Brad, and Ian, sample architectures, demos, and a curated library of links, glossary, and resources.
Chapter Intro
Your Teachers
Learn from industry veterans who have helped countless digital organizations create design systems, adopt new technologies, and work better together.
TJ Pitre
Founder and CEO of Southleft
I’m a front-end engineer, design-systems architect, and the founder and CEO of Southleft. I’ve spent the last twenty years helping product teams turn complex UI into reliable systems that scale across brands, platforms, and teams. I love the craft of building interfaces that are both flexible and durable.
My recent work focuses on how AI can accelerate design-to-development workflows. I’ve created generative UI prototypes and tooling that help teams assemble real interfaces from design systems, validate tokens and component structure, and sustain high-quality standards with less friction. I share this work often through demos, talks, and collaborations that explore how AI can support the way we already build digital products.
I’m based in New Orleans with my wife and three kids. When I’m not building something new, I’m usually cooking, tinkering, or chasing the next fun idea.
Brad Frost & Ian Frost
Creators of Atomic Design, Design systems consultants
Brad Frost Web is Brad and Ian Frost, two brothers passionate about making things and helping people.
With over 30 years of combined industry experience, we've helped countless organizations—including many Fortune 500 companies—evolve design systems, establish better processes, and create better digital products.
We help digital teams level up through training and online courses about design systems, design tokens, frontend development, collaboration, and more.
We live five minutes away from each other in beautiful Pittsburgh. When we're not neck-deep in design systems, we're playing music, making things, and spending time with our families.
Testimonials
Brad, Ian, and TJ are industry leaders trusted by tool makers, Fortune 500 clients, and thousands of professional practitioners.
My expectations for Subatomic were high, and yet they were exceeded. Brad and Ian's course helped me understand the fundamentals of design tokens on a remarkably deep level. The way they break down token architecture into practical, implementable systems transformed my approach to design. I now have the confidence to build scalable multi-brand experiences and tackle any theming challenge. I feel I can do anything now 💪.
There are plenty of resources out there talking about the basic concepts of design tokens, which I get, but having the words like code package managers, package import to target applications, npm, yarn, etc are the real important stuff to get the tokens working. I love how you're empowering designers like myself to be on the same playing field with the engineers so we can collaborate.
The course is **fantastic**, and I would go on to say that this course should be a mandatory course for every designer graduating college and entering the workforce. Not only for them, also for seasoned designers. I'm finding so much peace of mind updating my ways of working as I include design tokens in our company's design system.
I enrolled today and the way I can describe this experience is "declench"! This is what I need, a guide that doesn't assume I've never heard of design systems before and gives practical, actionable advice that I can then carry out. The relief is palpable. This course is a triumph.
From the very first finished chapter, I was hooked. The way you break down the history, the roles, and the perspectives of both designers and developers—it's like finally getting a nutrient-packed meal after years of snacking on half-baked Design Systems content.
The course has been a marvelous feast of insights from two of the best and most experienced teachers you could ask for. It came at the perfect time for a project to support customers configuring a white labelled product. The course offers easy to consume videos that in the end are very thorough and cover the whole process end-to-end. Highly recommended! This will be one I come back to again and again.
Guys, I can't imagine how many hours you have put into this course. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with all of us, I'm about half way through chapter four and it's so thorough! Exactly what I needed at just the right time 🤟🏼
The depth and effort you seem to have put into this course are impressive. I'm not sure anyone else has taken such a deep dive into this topic yet.
I really loved how simple and easy to follow the course was! The way it introduced the three-tiered token architecture—Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3—made so much sense ^_^ It was great to see how we can apply this structure in real-world projects without overcomplicating things.
I am really enjoying Subatomic. Me and a few coworkers are taking the course, and it's been a huge help as we create a new design system.
It is one of the best courses available online these days. Thanks for putting such a great effort into producing it.
I've been loving the subatomic course! Optimizing methods/workflows at the subatomic level returns a tremendous amount of value. #gamechanger
Industry Leaders
Brad is a long-time trusted expert in Design Systems, who literally wrote the book on Atomic Design. He's one of the most knowledgeable people in this space, and this paired with his depth and knowledge of Figma makes him a perfect person to run a deep-dive course on Design Systems.
Brad Frost is one of the most original creative thinkers I know, and he has long been ahead of the curve on the collaboration between modern design and development. Take this course and you'll not only get far more done in less time, you'll also enjoy your work more, while rising in the opinion of your colleagues and stakeholders.
I can't think of better people to teach Design Tokens than Brad and Ian. Their years of experience building sophisticated design systems for a wide range of organizations and products have given them a deep knowledge of all things design systems—balancing what's possible with what's practical. With this course, you will learn everything you need to know and have fun doing it!
You want to learn about building design systems from someone who has built design systems. Like, a
lot of them. For totally different organizations. Take this course and learn how to do it, not in the abstract or theoretically, but
from people who get paid doing this exact work.
Brad and Ian Frost are renowned industry experts in design systems for a reason: they have worked deeply with varied companies through the industry for decades, building durable, thoughtful, and maintainable architectures. Taking a course with them is an accelerant to any developer: being able to incorporate years of expert experience into your own practice.
Brad is a luminary at the intersection of design and frontend. This course is a pragmatic and
future-thinking way to get design tokens into production.
I would follow Brad into any design systems battle! His experience, perspective, and thoughtful way of communicating makes him an amazing resource and teacher. Any course led by him and Ian is guaranteed to be worth the investment!
Brad has been instrumental in advancing the concept of design tokens and design systems. I am constantly referring to Brad's talks and articles, especially the article about a three-tiered approach to design tokens. Brad and Ian are amazing teachers and writers so I know this course will be amazing.
Over the past decade working in Design Systems I've relied on Brad's ideas, advice, and resources
countless times to help frame discussions and move forwards. Quite literally, I did it this week! Brad and Ian
are not only people with big ideas about Design Systems, but also people who repeatedly demonstrate their ability to
execute and deliver complete systems to empower teams all over the world.
Brad is one of the top design systems experts I recommend to my students. In a space full of noise and quick-money promises, his work stands out for being thoughtful, practical, and grounded in real experience. I've learned so much from his articles, workshops, and courses. Brad makes complex ideas clear and approachable, and his fun, down-to-earth style makes learning from him an absolute joy. He really knows his stuff—and shares it in a way that just clicks.
Brad Frost and Ian Frost are absolute powerhouses in their field. Atomic Design has shaped the way
the tech industry approaches design, and I had the opportunity to work with them on a major project for a Fortune 10 company. If you're
looking to deepen your understanding of design systems, you won't find better guides than Brad and Ian. Their new course is bound to be
a goldmine for anyone wanting to create scalable and impactful work.
You know your design system. But Brad and Ian know a multitude of design systems—like, literally
hundreds! Take advantage of their experience and benefit from everything they've learned along the way to make sure your design system
is best in class.
I've seen Brad and Ian teach hundreds of designers and developers about atomic design and design systens. They have worked with some of the largest companies in the world and have a unique track record of training and practical experience, so if you're at all interested in learning how to create an effective design token system to help your organization design and build at scale, then this course might be _just_ what you need.
Brad and Ian have been at the forefront of design systems since the beginning. I can't think of two safer pairs of hands to not only teach folks about how to do anything with design systems. More than that, they'll teach you how to do it right.
The industry needs a course like this that focuses on the fundamentals of how we think about the systematic expression of a brand. Much like how Atomic Design changed the way we all thought about modular reusable interfaces, this course will help put the industry on a pathway toward a structured and practical understanding of how design tokens can deliver immense value at scale.
I've known Brad for over 10 years and he REALLY knows his stuff. Hell, his book Atomic Design
pretty much put design systems on the map. But even more important is how he works. Atomic Design was built in the open, for free, for
anyone. He just wants good ideas to be out there. Not only that, he takes a healthy chunk of his earnings and
gives it to charity. Brad and Ian aren't just smart; they're good people.
If you're looking to level up your knowledge of design systems and design tokens, you're in the right place. Brad and Ian are two of the smartest people I know when it comes to this stuff. They make complex ideas easy to understand and keep things fun along the way. You'll learn a ton and have a great time doing it!
Brad's writing and work have redefined how our industry builds and scales design systems and design tokens. He has a rare gift for taking even the most complex topics and making them accessible. Whether you're a beginner trying to learn the basics or an experienced practitioner refining your approach, Brad and Ian are the perfect pair to lead you through all the topics, details, and steps.
Brad is one of my go-to experts on large, enterprise-wide design systems. He's been out there solving the really tough problems where organizations deal with complexity and politics yet emerge with a cohesive, thoughtful, future-friendly design system. His magical ability to reduce complex ideas into simple ones makes him the best at helping these teams overcome these huge challenges. He can help you.
I've known Brad and Ian for a while now and I am continually impressed with the way they (1) care
for the people around them and (2) share what they've learned through their considerable portfolio of work. I can't think of many folks
who are as qualified to share this kind of knowledge with the community!
Brad's work is one of the first things I consult whenever I'm stuck on a tricky design systems problem. His contributions to the industry are colossal.
I've no doubt that his and Ian's upcoming course will prove instrumental, and a solid investment for anyone working on design tokens.
Brad's atomic design equipped designers with a systematic way of designing screen-based interaction. More than a cute play on words, atoms, molecules, organisms, templates and pages positioned designers to serve the needs of users, product owners, engineering, brand and other stakeholders. This course shows the same promise for elevating design practice and addressing challenges presented by enterprises.
What you've got here is people with years and years of design systems experience with all shapes and sizes of organisation, sharing their knowledge in a way you'll actually be able to apply to your systems - and it helps that they're some of the nicest people you'd meet!
Skip to the end of your design token quest, Brad and Ian have a course out. This power duo combines
years of industry experience into a high-quality course about design tokens.
Brad and Ian have spent years helping companies make sense of design tokens. Let them to do the same for you.
Every time I run into Brad (and sometimes when I don't) we have wild conversations about the minutia of design token organization and management. Wild! But also practical. This is the foundation of any design system, and I'm excited to see how Brad pulls it all together.
If you are looking for a practical and comprehensive deep-dive into design tokens, stop — that's it! Brad shares a very pragmatic, real-world overview of how to get design tokens just right — and how to avoid all the troubles and hassles that syncing, automation and handoff bring along! Highly valuable, and highly recommended!
When Brad and Ian have something to say, I stop to listen. Their advocacy for iterative
cross-disciplinary collaboration and for core web technologies rekindles and sustains the spirit of the web. Their foundational work
endures hype cycles and continues to inspire new generations of developers.
I've known Brad for years having spoken at many of the same conferences, and can attest that he really knows his stuff and is a world expert on design systems. I have full confidence that this course will be fantastic, and I'm personally looking forward to it!
I've known Brad and Ian for over 10 years and I've watched as they've shared their deep knowledge with design systems teams and practitioners around the world. They've worked with teams of all sizes, and I know that you'll learn from two experts who've seen and experienced the real-world challenges that folks face in their day-to-day work.
I've long admired Brad and Ian's work—their insights, tools, and generous sharing of knowledge. They're not just experts in design systems but also funny, honest, and thoughtful educators.
Working with Brad and Ian is always pure joy. Not only, because they are experts in their field, but they are also enthusiastic and friendly people to work with. Now that their new course is out, you can see all of this yourself: their expertise, their passion for what they do and the friendly and positive way of delivering this.
Frequently Asked Questions
We're releasing this course iteratively, so here are some answers to common questions. Can't find an answer here? Just drop us a line.
When will the full course be done?
We already have 15+ hours of demos, resources, videos, and links available on the platform. There's plenty to sink your teeth into the moment you join. We're also releasing content as soon as we finish recording and editing it: the moment a section of a chapter is complete, it goes up on the platform for everyone with Early Access.
We're aiming for June to have everything fully finished.
How is the course paced? Is it self-paced or live?
The course is fully self-paced. You can work through the videos and resources on your own schedule, and new material is added as we finish recording and editing it.
The Jam Sessions are optional live sessions we host every other week during the Early Access period. They're a chance to ask questions, see fresh demos, and connect with the community, but there's zero pressure to attend. If you can't make them live, we record and share them so you can catch up whenever it works for you.
Why are you releasing the course iteratively instead of all at once?
Two reasons:
We don't want to hold practical, in-the-weeds content hostage while we produce the high-level course material. There's tremendous value in the content we're creating, and there's no good reason to make you wait.
AI is a fast-moving landscape. New tools, models, and techniques are emerging constantly. A rolling format lets us add new demonstrations for emerging concepts the moment they're relevant instead of shipping a course that's already out of date the day it launches.
Think of it like a Progressive JPEG: the picture gets sharper over time, but you can see it from the start.
What do I actually get with Early Access?
A significant discount off the full course price
Immediate access to over 15 hours of videos teaching AI & Design Systems concepts and techniques
Slack community access to a supportive, helpful, and respectful space for practitioners to learn from one another while working through this AI moment together
First access to every new video, demo, and resource as soon as it's released
Biweekly live Jam Sessions with TJ, Brad, and Ian (during the Early Access period)
Sample architectures, demos, and resources to apply directly to your own work
Can I purchase multiple licenses for my team?
Absolutely. 3 or more licenses gets you an automatic 20% discount at checkout, on top of the Early Access pricing.
If you order multiple licenses, the email that purchased the course can assign the other seats to different team member's email addresses from inside the course platform. They'll each get their own login and can work at their own pace.
Are there discounts available?
Yes! Email us and we'll try to provide a discount for any of the following:
Regional / purchasing power parity (PPP) pricing for folks outside the US whose local economy makes the full price disproportionately steep
Job-hunter discount if you're between roles and using this time to upskill
Student discount if you're enrolled in an undergrad, master's, or other academic program
Team / multi-license discount (20% off automatically at 3+ seats)
Just include a quick note about your situation when you write in.
Can I pay via invoice or get a company invoice after purchase?
You certainly can! While purchasing via the checkout makes our lives easier, we can also send you an invoice. Just Email us with the following and we'll send an invoice over:
Email address
First name
Last name
Company
Address Line 1
Address Line 2 (if applicable)
Country
City
State/Province/Region
Zip/Postal
VAT / Tax ID (if applicable)
If you've already purchased via the checkout and just need an invoice for your records, just email us and we'll get one over to you.
How do I join the Slack community?
Once you've joined, you'll receive a Slack invite via email. If you didn't see it, check your spam folder first. If it still hasn't arrived, just send us an email and we'll get you taken care of.
The Slack community is one of the best parts of this course! It's a refreshingly thoughtful, helpful, and respectful space for practitioners to learn from one another while working through this AI moment together.
Get Early Access for $500
Only a few days left to get the Early Access price of $500! The price increases to $995 on Tuesday, May 26.
The course is live and growing. The moment you join, you get 15+ hours of content already in the platform—plus everything new the moment we release it. Here's what's included:
Immediate access to 15+ hours of demos, live jam session recorindings, and emerging course content
Access to our Slack community full of passionate design systems & AI experts & practitioners
Biweekly live Jam Sessions with TJ, Brad, Ian, and our passionate & knowledgeable community
A significant discount off the full course price, with an additional 20% discount for teams of 3 or more
First access to new videos, resources, and materials as soon as they're ready
A resource database of links, terminology, and other helpful resources that's growing by the day
Our eternal gratitude
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