Flow above the chaos
The new year has arrived and with it, in 2020 style, more chaos. Like most Americans, I feel heartbroken and troubled by the news this week. Because I was feeling sort of listless, I decided to do a design challenge this week that might aid in calming my thoughts around everything that’s happening. I closed my eyes and I thought about the ocean and waves, and light, airy colors and gradients. I landed on creating a simple wave-like background pattern that could be used in a variety of ways: as a desktop wallpaper, a website hero graphic, screensaver, etc.
I initially didn’t know exactly how I wanted to layer the wave shapes, but then I remembered a very soothing game I used to play called Thisissand. In the app you create layers of colored sand patterns by either holding your thumb on the screen or releasing it. The sand then pours from the top of the screen like it would from an hourglass, and each time you hold or release your thumb, a new color appears. It’s both very mindless and mindful at the same time — a way to feel present and calm. I wanted my pattern to have the same kind of feel. For the gradients themselves, I relied on an excellent plugin in Figma called uiGradients, which has some preset gradients that you can select from and look great.
After so many design challenges where I’ve focused on more utilitarian user needs, it was refreshing to create something instead with a purely visual feel. This exercise felt more like painting; just a blank canvas that was mine to fill with shapes and colors. I really felt a flow in finding the right layered patterns of waves and the right combination of colors and gradients that made me feel calm.
I hope that the coming weekend brings some calm to you and yours.
