Brad Donnelley | Design Without Borders

Apple • Design Without Borders

Global expansion of a unified, distributed design system

How It All Started

Brief: We set out to unify Apple's sprawling ecosystem of web experiences through a single, global design system—one that could scale across regions while retaining the strategy, clarity, and magic expected of the brand.

Objective: The goal was ambitious: shift from a bespoke, individual model of crafting pages in isolation to a systemized, scalable approach that empowers global teams to deliver consistent, high-quality experiences—faster and smarter.

Role: As Creative Director, I led the strategic expansion of the system across international markets. I partnered closely with geo teams, introduced new intake processes, and ensured each team had the guidance, support, and tools they needed to succeed.

A Closer Look at the Problem

At Apple, design excellence has long been synonymous with custom-crafted experiences. But with scale comes complexity. Global teams were working in silos, duplicating efforts and making bespoke tweaks that undermined consistency and slowed delivery.

Each region had different ways of working, with limited alignment on shared tools or processes. While creativity thrived, it came at the cost of efficiency, scalability, and brand cohesion. And as expectations for faster delivery grew, our traditional model simply couldn’t keep up.

We weren’t just building a design system—we were fundamentally changing how teams collaborate, how decisions get made, and how creativity gets expressed within shared constraints.

How We Made It Happen

This was uncharted territory for Apple. Never before had a design system been rolled out at this scale—spanning geos, disciplines, and stakeholders. Collaboration became the foundation. We brought together dozens of global teams, many of whom had never worked this closely before. Through in-person workshops, recurring alignment sessions, and rigorous feedback loops, we fostered a culture of shared ownership and trust.

The system itself was rooted in reusable, rigorously crafted components—designed to meet most needs without constant reinvention. This shift away from bespoke designs created friction early on. Teams were used to pixel-tweaking. Now, they had to work within the system, and that required a mindset shift.

To support this transition, we developed a suite of new processes: a detailed intake model that allowed geo teams to propose enhancements to the design system; a centralized review model to ensure consistency and maintain alignment with the overarching strategy; and robust training programs to help onboard teams to the system’s tools, philosophy, and purpose.

The Impact So Far

The rollout began with a few select regions, gradually expanding as confidence in the system grew. What once felt like a radical shift became second nature. We launched a comprehensive internal design system portal—a living, evolving hub offering everything from design files and content guidance to strategic documentation and reusable code. It quickly became the go-to resource for designers, writers, and developers across the company, updated weekly to reflect the latest design work and business priorities.

Crucially, we struck a careful balance: structure without stifling creativity. Apple designers are world-class—they want to push boundaries, craft thoughtful moments, and respond to the uniqueness of each product story. The system gave them a strong foundation to build from, while still allowing for expressive, elevated work where it mattered most.

What started as a design unification effort ultimately transformed how we work—creating lasting infrastructure, global alignment, and space for creativity to thrive within a shared system.