Lesson 1: Introduction to Spectrum

Spectrum is Adobe's design system, with design guidelines and recommended components to create a unified experience across all Adobe Clouds. A team of Adobe engineers and User Experience designers launched the Spectrum initiative years ago; today it is publicly released and gaining community support.

Resources for the Spectrum design system are available on Adobe's Spectrum website.

Spectrum applies to all platforms, both desktop and mobile, from the ground up. Since people work with different products and often need to switch context, Spectrum's scale system provides better legibility and easier UI interactions for consistent experiences across devices.

Spectrum is designed to be clearly readable, intuitive to use, and mindful of those who require alternative input peripherals or screen readers. Everything in the system — from color and type to interaction and language — is built to be compliant with industry standards.

Spectrum is built with transparency at its core. Everything in the system has its own versioning, a list of open issues, and a design checklist to communicate its status. The team constantly communicates what it's working on, sets clear expectations, and builds trust with users to strengthen the relationships that help products and industries grow.

Spectrum connects different talents, viewpoints, and skills into something that benefits all Adobe products. Anyone at Adobe can contribute to a collection of design elements to be considered as additions to the design system.

Download a Spectrum UI Kit ZIP file with all the latest UI kits (.xd files) for individual items, and a collection of master UI kits.

To use the Adobe Clean font families, download them through the Adobe Developer Console using your Adobe ID. You’ll be asked to accept the Adobe Developer Terms of Use before using them.

Caution: Adobe Clean, Adobe Clean Serif, and Adobe Clean Han are restricted fonts for the exclusive use of Adobe products and software.

Spectrum uses Workflow and UI SVG icons that are designed to be clear, minimal, and consistent across platforms.

You can communicate directly with the Spectrum team by email.