A personal case study: how I built a design system from scratch at the Tallinn University Summer School.
July 2026. I land in Tallinn with a clear goal: attend an intensive Design Systems course at Tallinn University, “From Atom to Products,” and get a first-hand look at what makes Estonia’s startup ecosystem one of the most interesting in Europe.
It’s not my first time travelling to learn something new — I’ve done it in New Zealand, Lithuania, and Portugal. But this time the challenge was different: come home not just with a certificate, but with something concrete to apply to my work.
The course
For two weeks I worked in Figma building a design system from scratch: from color tokens to finished components, following the atomic design method — atoms, molecules, patterns, product. Instead of working on an abstract exercise, I applied it to a personal project: palette, typography, grid, all built as reusable variables, ready to be exported and used in any future prototype.
It was the perfect testing ground to bring my design workflow to a more solid, systemic level — thinking in tokens and components instead of isolated screens.
A classroom from all over the world
One of the best parts of the Tallinn University Summer School was the class itself: students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, the United States, the Philippines, and half of Europe, all in the same design course. Comparing notes every day with such different cultural backgrounds and ways of working enriched the course as much as the lessons themselves.
Outside the classroom, the summer school organized international food nights where each country brought a typical dish to share, and a day trip outside Tallinn to explore Estonia’s history up close — the perfect way to round out the academic experience with a cultural one.
Tallinn as a design lab
In my free time I also explored the city’s more creative and tech-driven side: Lift99, the startup hub born out of the Skype community, and the e-Residency program, which lets you set up a digital business in Estonia entirely remotely. Seeing first-hand how a small country like Estonia built such an advanced digital ecosystem was a direct inspiration for how I think about my own projects as an independent designer.
What I’m bringing home
A working, reusable design system, a more structured way of working, and an international network of people who, like me, work in design and technology around the world.
The course wrapped up with the Tallinn University Summer School certificate of participation — concrete proof of an experience I’m carrying forward in my career.
