Redwoods is a group of life-long learners committed to supporting each other on the journey of design system maturity.
We’re creators, not just consumers. Teachers, not just learners. We’re here to challenge and expand each other’s perspectives and to push the design system community forward in sustainable, meaningful ways.
Our Values
Redwoods has three core values that provide the foundation of every interaction we have. These are actual, not aspirational. If you’re a member, this is who we are, not who we want to be. We’re not perfect, so we won’t always get this right. But we are on a mission to be better humans and better practitioners.
“Redwoods is one of the only communities where I feel like I can not only grow in my own DS practice by learning from others, but also have a hand in shaping the world of design systems at large.”
Stay in learning mode.
Everyone, from junior to senior, has something to teach you. Redwoods encourages continuous and open learning, across experience level and discipline.
Be generous with your knowledge.
Learning is great, but it’s not enough. Redwoods members are creators, not just consumers: we analyze, we synthesize, and then we offer our new understanding back to the larger community.
We’re in this together.
Respect is our default. Redwoods is a safe and open community where everyone’s experiences and perspectives are valued. We’re here to support, advise, and guide you throughout your systems career.
“DS weekly therapy session :)”
Why Redwoods?
Companies don’t know how to support their design system teams. We’re often left on an island, and the result is design systems that never generate the value we hoped for.
We believe deeply in what a design system can do, but systems have to be nurtured. And the way you nurture a system is by nurturing the people building it.
Redwoods is a committed community for the people doing this work. A safe place to talk about the real challenges, support each other through them, and start producing the results we’ve been promising our companies for years.
“[Redwoods is] your design system team’s design system team.”
And because we’re makers, membership is also a commitment to give back, to synthesize what we’re learning and share it with the wider design system community.
The history of Redwoods
I was in Muir Woods a few years ago, a coastal redwood forest, and a genuinely spiritual place to visit. The ground is covered in needles, there’s no noise, the air is pure, and you’re surrounded by trees as tall as the Statue of Liberty. It’s breathtaking.
When people first settled the area, they cut these trees down for lumber but would leave a few standing. Inevitably, after a short time, the trees left behind would fall over.
Even though these trees are hundreds of feet tall, their roots only go down about ten feet. But those roots grow outward, as much as 80 feet, and intertwine with the roots of every other redwood around them. These trees hold each other up. That’s what Redwoods is. A place to hold each other up.
Beyond this, if you read the writings of John Muir, you’ll recognize that he saw the interconnectedness present in a Redwood forest:
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
I started Redwoods because I needed that connection. If you’re looking for it too, perhaps Redwoods is for you.
Ben Callahan,
Founder of Redwoods