---
slug: emcn
title: 'Introducing Emcn — Sim’s new design system'
description: Emcn is the heart of our new design language at Sim. Here’s the scaffolding of the system—principles, tokens, components, and roadmap—as we prepare the full launch.
date: 2025-11-08
updated: 2025-11-08
authors:
  - emir
readingTime: 6
tags: [Design, Emcn, UI, UX, Components, Sim]
ogImage: /blog/emcn/cover.png
ogAlt: 'Emcn design system cover'
about: ['Design Systems', 'Component Libraries', 'Design Tokens', 'Accessibility']
timeRequired: PT6M
canonical: https://www.sim.ai/blog/emcn
featured: false
draft: true
---

> This post is the scaffolding for Emcn, our new design system. We’ll fill it in as we publish the full documentation and component gallery.

![Emcn cover placeholder](/blog/emcn/cover.png)

## What is Emcn?

Emcn is the design system that powers Sim’s product and brand. It aims to give us:

- Consistent, accessible UI across web surfaces  
- A fast path from Figma to code with strongly‑typed tokens  
- A composable component library that scales with product complexity  

## Principles

1. Opinionated but flexible  
2. Accessible by default (WCAG AA+)  
3. Strongly‑typed, themeable tokens (light/dark + brand accents)  
4. Composable components over one‑off variants  
5. Performance first (minimal runtime, zero layout shift)  

## Foundations (Tokens)

- Color: semantic palettes (bg, fg, muted, accent, destructive) with on‑colors  
- Typography: scale + weights mapped to roles (display, title, body, code)  
- Spacing: 2/4 grid, container and gutter rules  
- Radius: component tiers (base, interactive, card, sheet)  
- Shadows: subtle elevation scale for surfaces and overlays  
- Motion: duration/easing tokens for affordances (not decoration)  

## Components (Initial Set)

- Primitives: Button, Input, Select, Checkbox, Radio, Switch, Slider, Badge, Tooltip  
- Navigation: NavBar, SideBar, Tabs, Breadcrumbs  
- Feedback: Toast, Banner, Alert, Dialog, Drawer, Popover  
- Layout: Grid, Stack, Container, Card, Sheet  
- Content: CodeBlock, Markdown, Table, EmptyState  

> Each component will include: anatomy, a11y contract, variants/slots, and code examples.

## Theming

- Light + Dark, with brand accent tokens  
- Per‑workspace theming hooks for enterprise deployments  
- SSR‑safe color mode with no flash (hydration‑safe)  

## Accessibility

- Focus outlines and target sizes audited  
- Color contrast tracked at token level  
- Keyboard and screen reader interactions defined per component  

## Tooling

- Tokens exported as TypeScript + CSS variables  
- Figma library mapped 1:1 to code components  
- Lint rules for token usage and a11y checks  

## Roadmap

- v0: Foundations + Core components (internal)  
- v1: Public docs and examples site  
- v1.x: Data display, advanced forms, charts bridge  

## FAQ

- What does “Emcn” mean?  
  A short, crisp name we liked—easy to type and remember.  

- Will Emcn be open‑sourced?  
  We plan to share the foundations and many components as part of our commitment to open source.  

## We’re hiring

We’re hiring designers and engineers who care deeply about craft and DX. If you want to help shape Emcn and Sim’s product, we’d love to talk.

— Team Sim


