AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
When I started working on my B2B startup website project, the client dropped a bomb on me: "We need this in French, German, and English. Can Framer handle that?"
I stared at my beautiful, carefully crafted design system with 50+ text components and felt my stomach drop. Every tutorial I'd seen made Framer translation look simple - just duplicate components and swap the text, right? Wrong.
What followed was a journey through broken layouts, inconsistent spacing, and text overflow that would make any designer want to throw their MacBook out the window. But here's what I discovered: most people are doing Framer translation completely backwards.
Here's what you'll learn from my painful (but ultimately successful) experience:
Why the "duplicate and translate" approach destroys your design system
My 3-step framework for maintaining visual consistency across languages
How to handle text expansion without breaking layouts
The component architecture that actually scales
Why website architecture decisions matter more than translation tools
Industry Reality
What every designer gets wrong about Framer translation
Walk into any design community and ask about Framer translation, and you'll get the same advice every time:
"Just duplicate your components for each language"
"Use text overrides for different versions"
"Set up language variants in your component library"
"Create separate pages for each language"
"Use external translation tools and import"
This conventional wisdom exists because it's the most obvious approach. Framer's component system makes duplication easy, and most tutorials focus on the mechanics rather than the maintenance nightmare you're creating.
The problem? This approach treats translation as a one-time task instead of an ongoing system. You end up with:
Multiple versions of "the same" component that drift apart over time
Inconsistent spacing and styling across languages
A maintenance nightmare when you need to update designs
Broken layouts when text expands or contracts
The real issue is that most designers think about translation as a content problem when it's actually an architecture problem. The moment you start duplicating components instead of building flexible systems, you've already lost.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When this B2B startup client asked me to translate their Framer website, I thought it would be straightforward. They had a clean design system with about 50 text components - buttons, headings, hero sections, feature cards, testimonials.
My first instinct was to follow the standard advice. I started duplicating components, creating "Button_EN," "Button_FR," "Button_DE" versions. Seemed logical, right?
Three hours later, I was ready to quit design forever.
The German text was 40% longer than English, breaking my carefully designed button layouts. The French version needed accent characters that shifted my font metrics. Worse, when I tried to update the primary button styling, I had to manually update it across 15 different language variants.
The client needed to launch in two weeks, and I was spending more time managing component versions than actually designing. That's when I realized the fundamental problem: I was treating each language as a separate design system instead of one flexible system that could handle multiple languages.
The breaking point came when the client requested a simple color change for all buttons. What should have been a 30-second update became a 2-hour nightmare of hunting down every language variant. I knew there had to be a better way.
That's when I ditched the conventional approach and started thinking about translation as a content architecture problem rather than a duplication problem.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the framework I developed after that initial disaster - what I now call the "Single Source, Multiple Outputs" approach for Framer translation:
Step 1: Build Language-Agnostic Components
Instead of creating language-specific components, I rebuilt everything to handle variable text lengths. This meant:
Using auto-layout containers that expand with content
Setting minimum and maximum width constraints
Building in 25% extra padding for text expansion
Using text components with overflow handling
Step 2: Create a Component Property System
This was the game-changer. Instead of duplicating components, I used Framer's component properties to create "language" variants:
Added a "Language" property to each text component
Set up conditional logic for text content
Used variant properties for language-specific styling when needed
Created a master content library with all translations
Step 3: Implement Content Variables
Rather than hardcoding text in components, I created a content management system:
Built a master spreadsheet with all content in three languages
Used Framer's text override system strategically
Created content blocks that could be swapped per language
Set up a single page template that could render in any language
Step 4: Testing and Optimization
The real test came when we stress-tested the system:
German text that was 45% longer than English didn't break layouts
Design updates could be made once and applied across all languages
New languages could be added without rebuilding components
Content updates could happen independently of design changes
The key insight was treating translation as a data problem, not a design problem. Your components should be smart enough to handle any language you throw at them.
Architecture First
Build components that flex with content, not components locked to specific languages
Content Management
Use variables and properties instead of duplicated components for different languages
Testing Framework
Stress-test with the longest possible text in each language to ensure layouts hold
Maintenance System
One source of truth for design updates that propagates across all language versions
The results were dramatic. What started as a potential 2-week nightmare became a 3-day implementation:
Component count reduced by 70% - from 150+ language-specific components to 45 flexible ones
Update time dropped from hours to minutes - design changes now applied across all languages instantly
Zero layout breaks during translation, even with German text expansion
Client could add new languages without designer involvement
More importantly, the client loved the flexibility. They could test different messaging across languages without waiting for design updates. When they wanted to add Spanish later, it took 2 hours instead of 2 weeks.
The maintenance burden disappeared entirely. Instead of managing a complex web of duplicated components, I had a single design system that just worked across languages.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the top lessons I learned from this translation nightmare-turned-success:
Architecture beats tools every time. No amount of translation plugins can fix a poorly designed component system.
Plan for text expansion upfront. German text can be 40-50% longer than English. Build this into your layouts from day one.
Content and design should be separate concerns. When you hardcode text into components, you create unnecessary coupling.
Test with real content, not Lorem Ipsum. Placeholder text won't reveal the layout issues that real translations will.
Maintenance cost compounds. Every duplicated component is a future maintenance burden.
Client independence matters. The best translation system is one clients can manage without constant designer involvement.
This approach works best for content-heavy sites. Simple landing pages might not need this level of complexity.
If I had to do it again, I'd start with the flexible architecture from day one instead of trying to retrofit translation later.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups implementing this approach:
Build language flexibility into your design system from the MVP stage
Use component properties for feature descriptions that change by market
Plan for localized pricing and legal copy variations
Consider cultural differences in layout preferences, not just language
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores using this framework:
Product descriptions need flexible containers for varying lengths
Build currency and pricing components that adapt by region
Consider checkout flow variations for different markets
Test with real product names and descriptions, not placeholder text