Image Asset Management

Image asset management encompasses how design systems organize, export, distribute, and version control image assets across multiple platforms and display densities. Effective management ensures designers and developers access correct assets consistently, updates propagate reliably, and asset proliferation remains controlled.

What Is Image Asset Management

Image asset management addresses the lifecycle of visual assets from creation through consumption. This includes organizing source files, generating exports for different platforms and densities, distributing assets to developers, versioning and updating assets, and deprecating obsolete assets.

Without systematic management, organizations experience asset chaos: duplicated files with inconsistent naming, outdated assets in production, missing density variants, and confusion about authoritative sources. Design systems impose order through defined processes and tools.

Asset categories require different management approaches. Icons need vector sources with multiple export formats. Photographs need raster sources with optimized exports. Illustrations may combine vector and raster elements. Each category has distinct export and distribution requirements.

How Image Asset Management Works

Source file organization establishes clear structure for design files. Hierarchical folders group assets by type, feature, or component. Naming conventions ensure findability and indicate asset properties. Version control tracks changes and enables rollback.

Asset Organization Example:

/assets
  /icons
    /navigation
      home.svg
      search.svg
      menu.svg
    /actions
      add.svg
      delete.svg
      edit.svg
  /illustrations
    /onboarding
      welcome.svg
      features.svg
    /empty-states
      no-results.svg
      error.svg
  /photos
    /hero
      landing-hero.jpg
      product-hero.jpg

Naming Convention:
[category]-[name]-[variant].[format]
icon-home-filled.svg
icon-home-outline.svg
illustration-welcome-light.svg
illustration-welcome-dark.svg

Export automation generates platform-specific assets from sources. Build scripts or design tool plugins export icons at required sizes and densities. Optimization tools compress exports without quality loss. Automation ensures consistent export quality and reduces manual effort.

Distribution mechanisms deliver assets to consuming applications. Package managers distribute assets as dependencies. CDNs serve assets to web applications. Asset catalogs bundle assets into native mobile applications. Design systems should document distribution channels for each platform.

Version control applies to assets just as it applies to code. Git LFS handles large binary files. Design tool branching (Figma branching, Abstract) manages design file versions. Changelog documentation tracks asset changes and their rationale.

Key Considerations

• Source file organization affects maintainability and findability
• Export automation reduces errors and ensures consistency
• Format selection balances quality, size, and compatibility
• Distribution channels vary by platform
• Version control prevents asset regression
• Deprecation processes retire obsolete assets cleanly

Common Questions

How do design systems handle multi-resolution exports?

Automated export pipelines generate all required resolutions from single sources. A vector icon exports to 1x, 2x, and 3x PNG variants plus SVG. Raster sources may need manual creation of each resolution or intelligent upscaling.

Asset catalogs organize multi-resolution variants together. iOS Xcode asset catalogs group @1x, @2x, and @3x images under single asset names. Android resource directories organize by density folder. Design systems should output to these native structures.

Build-time generation can produce resolution variants during application builds. Tools can generate PNG variants from SVG sources as part of the build process, reducing repository size by storing only vector sources.

Validation checks ensure all required resolutions exist. Missing @3x variants or Android density gaps cause runtime issues. Automated checks catch these gaps before deployment.

What image formats should design systems use?

Vector formats (SVG, PDF) suit icons and illustrations with clean geometric shapes. These scale infinitely without resolution variants.

Modern raster formats (WebP, AVIF) offer superior compression compared to PNG and JPEG. These formats suit photographs and complex images where file size matters.

Platform-specific formats may be required. iOS asset catalogs work with PNG. Android VectorDrawable provides optimized vector rendering. Build pipelines may need to convert between formats.

Format selection guidance should be part of design system documentation. Clear rules about when to use each format prevent inconsistent format choices across the system.

How do teams coordinate asset updates across platforms?

Centralized asset sources ensure all platforms draw from the same authoritative files. When source assets update, exports regenerate for all platforms.

Version tagging marks specific asset states for release coordination. Applications can pin to specific asset versions, updating when ready rather than automatically.

Change communication notifies consumers about asset updates. Changelogs, notification systems, or sync with application version cycles help teams coordinate.

Migration support assists when asset changes require application updates. If an icon changes significantly, design systems should provide both versions during transition periods.

Summary

Image asset management imposes order on visual asset lifecycles through organized source files, automated exports, systematic distribution, and version control. Effective management ensures correct assets reach all platforms consistently while enabling controlled updates. Design systems should document organization conventions, export processes, and distribution channels to prevent asset chaos.