Overview

Last updated Jul 1, 2026

Get started with Carbon by learning its core principles, accessing design tools, and exploring guidance for building consistent digital experiences for designers.

Overview

Learn about Carbon Design System

By adopting Carbon, designers gain a collection of reusable assets to design websites and user interfaces quickly and efficiently.

The IBM Design Language is the visual expression of IBM’s brand, including color, type scale, the grid, and more. Carbon translates the design language into code for building digital experiences.

This is done through elements such as color tokens, type tokens, and spacing tokens that are meant to be applied to all sorts of digital experiences through guidance and components.

Access the tools

Get set up with the design and AI tools to keep you up to date and proficient.

Figma license

IBMers should get a license for Figma, our primary design kit tool. You can view the w3 Apps Software Licenses page to see license availability for these design tools if needed.

Design kits

We maintain the Carbon kits in Figma. By using the kits you will automatically receive updates made to the Carbon libraries, ensuring your designs stay up-to-date with the latest releases. This allows you to speak the same language and have shared functionality expectations as your developers in the hand-off and development cycle.

Carbon MCP

Carbon MCP lets AI applications or agents query the Carbon Design System for colors, typography, component details, usage guidelines, and other essential context.

Designers should onboard to Carbon MCP and connect with Figma Make.

Read the guidelines

Dive into the documentation to understand the breadth of the design system and how to build with Carbon.

Building blocks

Foundations

Learn about the foundational aspects of the Carbon design system including 2x grid, accessibility, color, icons, motion, theming and typography.

Components

Components are one of the key building blocks of the design system. Their systematic reuse helps to create visual and functional consistency across experiences.

Patterns

Patterns are best practice solutions for how a user achieves a goal. They show reusable combinations of components and templates that address common user objectives with sequences and flows.

Data visualization

Carbon charts help you tell accurate and convincing stories around data with beautiful and accessible visualizations.

Explore foundational guidance

The following sites provide guidance for creating experiences that are consistent, provide an interoperability of experience with other offerings, and represent IBM as a company.

Some of this content is accessible to IBMers only.

Resource

What you’ll find

IBM Brand Center

Home base for the IBM Brand story, visual brand elements, guidelines, and assets.

IBM Brand Systems

Documentation of the rationale behind every visual and verbal detail for IBM businesses, audiences, categories, and offerings.

IBM Design Language

IBM’s design philosophy and principles that govern and guide every experience designed by IBM.

IBM Style

A central reference that ensures all IBM content for external audiences is grammatically correct, clear, consistent, appropriate for global audiences, and easy to translate.

IBM Experience Standards

Provides a shared definition of our standards at IBM, a way to measure excellence, and actionable ways to improve product or service experiences.

IBM Accessibility

Discipline-specific direction on how to make your product more accessible.

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